Turkish unemployment rate exceeds 9 percent in June period

ISTANBUL

DAILY NEWS Photo

The unemployment rate in Turkey exceeded 9 percent in the June period, as a slowdown in economic activity and an increase in the labor force squeezed job opportunities.

The 9.1 percent employment rate represents a rise in the June period, comprising the months of May, June and July, from 8.8 percent in the May period, according to data released on Sept. 15 by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK). Non-agricultural unemployment also rose to 11.1 percent.

Turkey’s unemployment rate was 8.1 percent during the June period last year.

The number of unemployed workers over 15 years old was 2.7 million during the period, the state-run statistics body reported.

TÜİK’s data also showed that the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate increased significantly during this period, hitting 9.9 percent with a 0.4 percentage point increase from last month. It last touched such a high level in January 2011.

İnanç Sözer, the head of the Economic Research unit at Odeabank, said seasonally-adjusted unemployment had risen to a 41-month high, due to a higher-than-expected contraction in domestic demand in the second quarter.

The analyst said he predicted the unemployment rate would reach 9.5 percent at the end of 2014, anticipating better growth in the second half of the year.

TÜİK’s data also reported a total of 26.6 million people employed during the period, and an employment rate of 46.7 percent.