Unemployed Italians become shepherds

Rome, May 3 (IANS/AKI) Thousands of young Italians are becoming shepherds as a way to make a living after facing the worst employment opportunities in more than a decade, according to a new report.

Around 3,000 youths have followed their parents into the livestock shepherding business, said Coldiretti, an Italian agriculture trade group that conducted the study.

A recessionary economy sent up Italy's unemployment rate to 9.8 percent in March, the highest level since 2000, according to the country's national statistics agency Istat.

For workers aged 24 years and younger, the unemployment rate jumped to 36 percent.

--IANS/AKI

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