TurkStat: Unemployment rate decreased in August

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Turkey's unemployment rate was 13.2 percent in August with a decrease of 0.8 percentage points year-on-year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) has announced.

The number of employed people decreased by 975,000 to 27,55 million persons in August compared with the same month last year. The employment rate was 43.9 percent with a 2.4 percentage point decrease. 

The employment rate was recorded as 43.9 percent with a 2.4 percentage point decrease year-on-year.

In July, the country's unemployment rate was 13.4 percent.

In August, the number of agricultural employment decreased by 314,000, industry decreased by 91,000 and services decreased by 717,000 while construction increased by 147,000.

According to the distribution of employment by sector; 19.2 percent was employed in agriculture, 19.8 percent was employed in industry, 6.2 percent was employed in construction and 54.7 percent was employed in services.

Youth unemployment

The number of unemployed youth aged 15 and over decreased by 456,000 to 4.2 million as of August compared to the same month last year, according to the figures.

The youth unemployment rate aged between 15-24 years stood at 26.1 percent with a 1.3 percentage point decrease, it added.

The non-agricultural unemployment rate also fell by 1.0 percentage point to 15.7 percent, year-on-year in the month.

Labor force participation

The number of people in the labor force was 31,74 million with a 1,43 million decrease in August compared to the same month last year. Labour force participation rate was 50.6 percent with a 3.3 percentage point decrease.

Unregistered employment decreased

The ratio of people working without any social security relating to the main job was 32.9 percent with a 3.2 percentage point decrease compared to the same period last year.

The rate of unregistered employment was 20.6 percent with a 2.8 percentage point decrease in the non-agricultural sector compared to the same month of the previous year.

Public sector employment increased

According to data compiled by the Presidency's Strategy and Budget Directorate, the total public sector employment was 4.77 million with a 3.6 percent percentage point increase in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year.

The 15-64 age group

For the 15-64 age group, the unemployment rate was 13.5 percent with a 0.8 percentage point decrease and the non-agricultural unemployment rate was 15.7 percent with a 1.1 percentage point decrease compared to the same period of the previous year.

In this age group, the employment rate was 48.8 percent with a 2.2 percentage point decrease and the labor force participation rate occurred as 56.4 percent with a 3.1 percentage point decrease.

Seasonally adjusted figures

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 13.2 percent with a 0.3 percentage point decrease. The number of unemployed people decreased by 78 thousand to 4 million 101 thousand persons.

The seasonally adjusted employment rate was 43.0 percent with a 0.4 percentage point increase. The number of employed people was estimated at 26.95 million persons with an increase of 280,000 compared with the same period of the previous year. (HA/VK)