Unemployment stands at 13.8 pct in September

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

Unemployment in Turkey reached 13.8 percent in September, said the country's statistical authority on Dec. 16.

September figures showed an annual rise of 2.4 percentage points, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said.

"The number of unemployed persons aged 15 years old and over increased by 817,000 to 4.57 million persons in September 2019 in Turkey compared to the same period last year," it noted.

Non-agricultural unemployment rate stood at 16.4 percent, showing a 2.9 percentage point year-on-year rise. 

The unemployment rate for young people age 15-24 surged 4.5 percentage points to 26.1 percent during the same period. 

The figure for persons age 15-64 climbed 2.4 percentage points on a yearly basis to 14.1 percent in the month. 

Meanwhile, the number of employed persons fell to 28.44 million in September, down 623,000 from the same month last year, indicating a 46.1 percent employment rate in the country. 

"According to the distribution of employment by sector, 19.3 percent were employed in agriculture, 19.5 percent in industry, 5.5 percent in construction, and 55.7 percent in services," it said. 

Official data showed Turkey's labor force participation rate slipped 0.5 percentage points year-on-year to 53.5 percent in September. 

Women's participation rate in the workforce was 34.9 percent, unchanged from the same month last year.

As laid out in Turkey's new economic program announced this September, the government targets a 12.9 percent unemployment rate for 2019.