Turkey’s unemployment rate falls to 9.3 percent

ANKARA

Month-on-month unemployment in Turkey fell slightly in the May period - made up of April, May and June - but the non-seasonal jobless rate increased slightly, according to data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) on Aug. 17.

The jobless rate fell to 9.3 percent from 9.6 percent in April 2015. This is still higher than the May 2014 figure of 8.8 percent. 

The non-seasonal jobless rate rose by 0.3 percent to 10.2 percent in May 2015 compared to the same period of 2014. 

The rise in the non-seasonal jobless rate showed that the general decline in the unemployment rate was due to the rise in employment in the seasonal agricultural and tourism sectors, according to analysts.  

The number of unemployed people in Turkey aged 15 years and over was 2.78 million, an increase of 238,000 in the May 2015 period compared to the same period of last year.

In the same period, the non-agricultural unemployment rate was 11.4 percent, a 0.7 percentage point increase from last year.

The employment rate rose slightly over the year to 46.9 percent in May, according to TÜİK data.

The labor force participation rate remained steady at 51.7 percent, with 29.86 million people in work.

The proportion of women in work rose to 32.1 percent, marking a 1.1 percentage point increase over the year to May. The rate for men remained the same at 71.8 percent.

Service industry employment rose slightly, while the total number of jobs in agriculture and construction fell.