Unemployment rate declines to 10.9 percent

ANKARA

Türkiye’s unemployment rate declined from 11.2 percent in April to 10.9 percent in May, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said on July 13.

The number of unemployed fell by 56,000 on a monthly basis to stand at 3.79 million people as of May, data from TÜİK showed.

The unemployment rate was 9.5 percent for men, down from 9.7 percent in April and 13.8 percent for women in May, falling from 14.3 percent from the previous month.

The labor force participation rate improved from 53.2 percent to 53.6 percent, with the number of people in the country’s labor force standing at 34.62 million.

The unemployment rate among the youth - aged between 15 and 24 - however increased from 20.1 percent in April to 23 percent in May. The jobless rates among the country’s male and female youth were 17.6 percent and 25.5 percent, respectively.

Some 30.8 million people were employed in Türkiye as of May, according to data from the statistics authority.

On a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, the average actual weekly working time declined by 0.9 hours from April to 44 hours, TÜİK also said.

The statistics institute also calculated the labor underutilization rate realized at 22.4 percent. The rate of composite measure of labor underutilization consists of time-related underemployment, potential labor force and unemployment.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) predicted in its latest edition of the economic outlook report that the unemployment rate in Türkiye will be 11.8 percent in 2022 and 2023.

The organization upgraded its economic growth forecast for the Turkish economy for 2022 from a previous 3.3 percent to 3.7 percent while cutting its estimate for next year from 3.9 percent to 3 percent.