Unemployment rate inches up to 11.5 pct in March

ANKARA

The unemployment rate increased from 11.1 percent in February to 11.5 percent in March, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) has said.

The number of jobless people, aged 15 and above, rose by 153,000 from February to 3.89 million people in March.

The unemployment rate was 10.3 percent for men and 13.9 percent for women.

The number of employed people, on the other hand, fell by 59,000 from February to March to a total of 29.96 million, while the employment rate inched down from 46.7 percent to 46.5 percent.

The labor force participation rate was 52.6 percent in March, rising slightly from February’s 52.5 percent, while the country’s labor force increased to 33.85 million people from 33.76 million.

TÜİK reported that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the youth unemployment rate -among those aged between 15 and 24 - climbed from 20.7 percent in February to 21.1 percent in March.

The seasonally and calendar adjusted average weekly actual working hours of employed people declined by 0.5 hours compared to February to 44.9 hours, the TÜİK data also showed. This was 43.7 hours in March 2021 and 44.3 hours in the same month of 2020.