Jobless rate falls to 8.8 percent in September

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

This file photo shows a group of people inside a vocational training school in the eastern province of Gaziantep.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) announced the unemployment rate was down 2.5 points to 8.8 percent year-on-year in September 2011. The number of unemployed fell to 2.39 million in September compared to 2.93 million in the same month last year, while the number of employed rose to 24.75 million up from 22.97 million in the same period.

“There has been an acceleration in production since August, which is reflected in industrial production data, capacity utilization and the latest employment data, which is another indicator of the strength in economic activity,” said Arma Capital’s economist Serkan Gönençler in a phone interview with the Hürriyet Daily News. Nevertheless, he pointed out that there has been a slowdown in consumption indicators like loan growth and automotive sales.

“While the data is striking and there has been a pick-up until now, I expect the consumption slowdown to be reflected in production and employment data within the next few months and we can expect a slowdown in employment,” Gönençler added.

Garanti Investment Economist Gizem Öztok echoed Gönençler’s sentiments.

“In the next year with the slowdown in economic performance this positive trend in employment could be reversed. Since we expect a serious slowdown next year, unemployment will probably be around the 11 percent levels again,” Öztok told Reuters.