Turkey jobless rate hits 11.1 pct in August, highest since early 2017

ANKARA

Turkey’s unemployment rose to 11.1 percent in the July-September period, official data showed on Nov. 15, hitting its highest level since early last year and up from a revised 10.6 percent in the June-August period.

The figure was up 0.5 percentage points compared to the same month a year earlier, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

The non-agricultural unemployment stood at 13.2 percent on average during the July-September period, the data also showed.

The youth unemployment rate—persons aged between 15 and 24—was 20.8 percent, indicating an increase of 0.2-percentage points on a yearly basis in August.

TÜİK said unemployment for the 15-64 age group went up 0.6 percentage points annually to 11.4 percent in August.

The number of unemployed persons aged 15 years and over increased by 266,000 year-on-year to reach 3.67 million in August.

In August, the employment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points from the same month last year up to 48.3 percent.

“The number of employed persons rose by 490,000 to 29.3 million persons in August 2018 compared with the same period of last year,” TÜİK said.

The labor force participation rate (LFPR) rose by 0.6 percentage points year-on-year to reach 54.3 percent in the month.

“LFPR for males was 74.1 percent with a 0.6 percentage point increase and the rate for females was 34.9 percent with a 0.6 percentage point increase compared with the same period of last year,” TÜİK said.