Turkey’s unemployment falls below Europeans’

ANKARA - Agence France-Presse

Turkey’s unemployment rate fell to 9.2 percent with a 0.6 percent decrease a year earlier, according to TÜİK. Hürriyet photo

Turkey’s unemployment rate was 9.2 percent last year, showing the lowest figures since 2005, figures revealed by state-run statistics body TÜİK revealed March.6. In contrast, the unemployment rate in the eurozone has reached 11.8 percent.

The number of unemployed persons decreased by 97,000 in 2012, amounting to 2,518,000 people in total, with the unemployment rate falling to 9.2 percent with a 0.6 percent decrease. In urban areas, the unemployment rate was 11.1 percent, with a 0.8 percent decrease, while in rural areas it was 5.5 percent with a 0.3 percent decrease. The non-agricultural unemployment rate was 11.5 percent with a 0.9 percent decrease, while the youth (the 15-24 age group) unemployment rate was 17.5 percent with a 0.9 percent decrease.

The overall unemployment rate, which was below market forecasts, decreased to its lowest level in 2012 since 2005, when new population projections were launched. Unemployment is slightly higher than the state medium-term program’s (OVP) target of 9 percent. The OVP’s target for 2013 is set 8.9 percent, whereas the unemployment rate is expected to remain falling this year, in line with the ongoing economic revival.

Turkey’s jobless rate was lower than 10 out of 17 eurozone members last year, according to data from Eurostat and the IMF. While the jobless rate in the eurozone increased to 11.8 percent - and 10.7 percent in European Union (27 members) - Turkey’s rate fell to 9.2 percent. The jobless rate in the eurozone’s second biggest economy, France, was 10.5 percent. Greece was the country with the highest unemployment rate at 27 percent, followed by Spain with 26 percent.

Employment increased slightly

The number of employed persons increased to 711,000 people compared to the previous year, reaching 24,821,000 people in total. Agricultural employment decreased to 46,000 people and non-agricultural employment increased by 757,000 people in this period. Of those who were employed in 2012, 24.6 percent were employed in agriculture, 19.1 percent were employed in industry, 6.9 percent were employed in construction, and 49.4 percent were employed in services.