Report: Number of Unemployed University Graduates Nears One Million

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The Platform of the Young Unemployed has released the December 2019 "Unemployment and Employment Report," based on figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) and the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR).

According to the report, the number of unemployed in the 15-24 age group and the 15-34 age group increased compared to the same month last year.

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Here are highlights from the report:

• In the 15-24 age group, which is used in international comparisons, the unemployment rate stood at 26.1 percent. The number of unemployed in this age group is 1 million 399 thousand.
• In the 15-34 age group, the number of unemployed stood at 2 million 721 thousand, increasing by 425 thousand from the same month last year. This number of people would make the country's fifth most populated city.
• In the same age group, the unemployment rate increased by 3.1 percent, reaching 19.3 percent.
• Since April 2018, the number of unemployed in the 15-34 age group increased by 907 thousand.
• The number of unemployed in middle school and high school graduates is 1 million 516 thousand.
• The number of unemployed university graduates is 991 thousand.
• The number of unemployed university graduates increased by 357 thousand since April 2018.
• Among the 15-29 age group, 5 million 551 thousand people neither work nor study. 31.3 percent of the youth in the country cannot contribute to economic activities or improve themselves by studying or doing an internship.
• Among the people who do not work or study, 3 million 782 thousand are women. 43 percent of the young women and 19.8 percent of the young men in the country cannot contribute to economic activities.
• For university graduates, periods for looking for jobs is increasing. In the 15-35 age group, the number of university graduates who are looking for a job for more than one year increased from 41 thousand to 234 thousand in the past year. (HA/VK)