Unemployment rate continues to decline

ANKARA

Türkiye’s unemployment rate continues a downward trend, easing from 10.6 percent in May to 10.3 percent in June, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said on Aug. 10.

The number of unemployed fell by 136,000 on a monthly basis to stand at 3.54 million people as of June, data from TÜİK showed.

The unemployment rate was 8.5 percent for men, down from 9.1 percent in May and 13.8 percent for women, remaining unchanged from the previous month.

The labor force participation rate declined slightly from 53.6 percent to 53.2 percent, with the number of people in the country’s labor force standing at 34.4 million.

The labor force participation rates were 71.3 percent for males and 35.5 percent for women, according to the latest data.

The employment rate was 47.8 percent in June, falling from 47.9 percent in May.

The unemployment rate among the country’s youth - aged between 15 and 24 - was stable at 20.4 percent in June, TÜİK said.

The jobless rates among the country’s male and female youth were 16.3 percent and 27.9 percent, respectively.

On a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, the average actual weekly working time increased by 0.6 hours from May to 44.5 hours, TÜİK also said.

The statistics institute also calculated the labor underutilization rate realized at 20.4 percent, declining from the previous month’s 22.1 percent.

The rate of a composite measure of labor underutilization consists of time-related underemployment, potential labor force and unemployment.