Turkey’s unemployment rate rises to 10.6 percent

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

Turkey’s unemployment rate rose to 10.6 percent in the three months starting in February, 0.9 percentage points higher than in the same period of last year, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) on June 15.

The number of unemployed aged 15 years old and above rose by 322,000 to 3,069,000 in the period of March, including February, March and April.

In the same period, the non-agricultural unemployment rate rose by 1.0 percentage points to 12.6 percent, while youth unemployment rate including the 15-24 age group soared by 1.9 percentage points to 18.6 percent.

The unemployment rate for the 15-64 age group rose by 0.9 percentage points to 10.8 percent over the same period.

Turkey’s unemployment rate is expected to rise by 0.5 points to 11.4 percent in 2015, from 9.9 percent in 2014, and rise further to 11.6 percent in 2016, according to data in the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO).