Unemployment rate at 13.3 pct in Nov

ANKARA

Turkey's unemployment stood at 13.3. percent in November 2019, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said on Feb. 10.

November's figures showed a 0.1 percentage point fall compared to October 2019, when unemployment stood at 13.4 percent.

The rate for employment dropped by 0.9 percentage points and hit 45.6 percent, almost 28.17 million people, the data showed. 

"The number of unemployed persons aged 15 and over increased by 327,000 to 4.308 million persons in Turkey compared with the same period of the previous year," it noted.

The unemployment rate for people aged 15-64 increased one percentage points to 15.5 percent in the month on a yearly basis. The rate of unemployment, on the other hand, decreased by 0.9 percentage points and reached 50.2 percent.

Non-agricultural unemployment rate stood at 15.5 percent, showing a one percentage point rise year-on-year. 

Meanwhile, the rate of young unemployment, for people aged 15-24, increased by 0.9 percentage points and reached 24.5 percent. The rate of employment for the same age group hit 32.6 percent, showing a decrease of 0.7. percentage points.

TÜİK data also showed that the number of people, from the same age group, who neither work nor study reached 25.2 percent with a 0.9 percentage point increase.

The labor force participation rate decreased by 0.5 percentage points on an annual basis, falling to 52.5 percent in November last year, according to TÜİK.

The report also revealed that the number of women participating in the workforce went down 0.2 percentage points from the previous year to 33.9 percent.

With the new economic program, the Turkish government targets a 12.9 percent unemployment rate. The program estimates the unemployment rate will decrease gradually to hit 9.8% percent in 2022.