Turkey’s unemployment rate according to TurkStat: 13.4 percent

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the state agency producing official statistics on Turkey, has released its Labor Force Statistics for February.

According to the TurkStat figures, the number of unemployed persons aged 15 years old and over increased by 250 thousand to 4 million 236 thousand persons in February 2021 compared to the previous month. The unemployment rate was 13.4 percent with a 0.7 point increase.

The number of employed persons decreased by 22 thousand to 27 million 477 thousand persons in the period of February 2021 compared to the previous month, according to the TurkSta. The employment rate was 43.4 percent with a 0.1 percentage point decrease.

Labor force participation: 50.1 percent

The number of persons in the labor force realized 31 million 712 thousand persons with 226 thousand persons increase in February 2021 compared to the previous month. Labor force participation rate was 50.1 percent with a 0.3 percentage point increase.

Youth unemployment: 26.9 percent

The youth unemployment rate in the 15-24 age group was 26.9 percent with a 0.4 percentage point increase compared to the previous month and the employment rate was 28.1 percent with a 0.3 percentage point decrease. The labour force participation rate in this age group was 38.5 percent with a 0.1 percentage points decrease compared to the previous month.

Seasonally adjusted employment in services sector

In February 2021, the number of agricultural employment decreased by 52 thousand persons and industry decreased by 166 thousand persons in Turkey while construction increased by 37 thousand persons and services increased by 157 thousand persons.

According to the distribution of employment by sector; 17.4 percent was employed in agriculture, 20.8 percent was in industry, 6 percent was employed in construction and 55.8 percent in services.

Labor underutilization rate: 28.3 percent

The TurkStat report has noted that in February, the rate of composite measure of labor underutilization consisting of time-related underemployment, potential labor force and unemployment was 28.3 percent with a 1.2 point decrease compared to the previous month.

While the combined rate of time-related underemployment and unemployment was 19.8 percent, combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force was 22.5 percent in Turkey in February 2021.

Unregistered unemployment

In February 2021, the rate of unregistered employment, which indicates the share of employment who are not affiliated with social security institution in total employment, was 27.4 percent with a 2.8 percentage point decrease compared to the same month of the previous year.

According to TurkStat, the rate of unregistered employment in the non-agricultural sector realized as 16.7 percent with a 3.6 percentage point decrease compared to the same month of the previous year.

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Note by the TurkStat

In the introduction to its news bulletin, the TurkStat has shared the following information about its Labor Force Statistics:

"In the Household Labour Force Survey as of January 2021, simultaneously with the European Union (EU) countries; new regulations have been made in order to comply with the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) Resolutions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the relevant EU regulations. With the 19th ICLS, supplementary indicators were defined in addition to employment and unemployment in order to better follow the developments in the labour market. These supplementary indicators, which are published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), have started to be included in this press release.

"In addition, Labour Force Statistics which are published as 3 months moving averages in current have been published as independent monthly estimates since 2021. Detailed information on the new regulations can be found in the metadata."

(SD)