Turkey's official jobless rate falls to 8.8%

ISTANBUL - Agence France-Presse

AA Photo

Turkey's unemployment rate dropped to 8.8 percent in the three months to October from 11.3 percent in the same period last year, official data showed on Thursday.

The number of jobless fell by 536,000 people to reach almost 2.4 million on a 12-month comparison, the statistics institute said on its web site.

Turkey's economy has staged a spectacular recovery from the global crisis, growing 8.9 percent in 2010.
 
But unemployment remains a major challenge for the government in a country where many young people swell the workforce each year, and a declining farming sector drives unqualified labourers to urban areas.
 Turkey's jobless rate is determined through household surveys across the country which are then used to make a nationwide three-month projection.

Experts say the figures do not reflect the overall picture because of widespread undeclared or hidden unemployment, or the employment of educated, qualified people in menial jobs.