Unemployment Rate Stands at 13.8 Percent in January

Source and image: TurkStat

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The number of unemployed persons aged 15 years old and over decreased by 306 thousand to 4 million 362 thousand persons in January compared with the same month last year, the Turkish Statistical Institute announced today (April 10).

The unemployment rate was 13.8 percent with a 0.9 percentage point decrease. Non-agricultural unemployment rate was 15.7 percent with a 1.1 percentage point decrease.

Employment rate stood at 44.0 percent

The number of employed persons increased by 109 thousand to 27 million 266 thousand persons in the period of January 2020 compared with the same period of the previous year. The employment rate was 44.0 percent with a 0.5 percentage point decrease.

While the number of people employed in agriculture decreased by 242 thousand persons, construction decreased by 68 thousand persons, industry increased by 257 thousand persons and services increased by 161 thousand persons. According to the distribution of employment by sector; 16.0 percent was employed in agriculture, 20.7 percent was employed in industry, 5.2 percent was employed in construction and 58.1 percent was employed in services.

Labour force participation rate stood at 51.0 percent

The number of persons in the labor force realized 31 million 629 thousand persons with a 196 thousand decrease in the period of January 2020 compared with the same period of the previous year. Labour force participation rate (LFPR) was 51.0 percent with a 1.2 percentage point decrease.

The rate of unregistered employment stood at 31.0 percent

The ratio of persons working without any social security relating to the main job was 31.0 percent with a 2.1 percentage point decrease in the period of January 2020 compared with the same period of the previous year. The rate of unregistered employment stood at 20.9 percent with a 1.6 percentage point decrease in the non-agricultural sector compared to the same period of the previous year.

For the 15-64 age group, the unemployment rate was 14.1 percent with 0.9 percentage point decrease and the non-agricultural unemployment rate was 15.8 percent with 1.1 percentage point decrease compared to the same period of the previous year. In this age group, the employment rate was 48.6 percent with a 0.4 percentage point decrease and the labor force participation rate was 56.5 percent with a 1.1 percentage point decrease.

Youth unemployment rate stood at 24.5 percent

The youth unemployment rate between aged 15-24 years stood at 24.5 percent with 2.2 percentage point decrease and the youth employment rate stood at 31.0 percent with 0.2 percentage point decrease compared with the same period of the previous year. In the same period, the labor force participation rate stood at 41.1 percent with a 1.5 percentage point decrease. The rate of neither in employment nor in education stood at 25.7 percent with a 0.2 percentage point increase compared with the same period of the previous year.

Seasonally adjusted employment

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 12.6 percent with a 0.4 percentage point decrease. The number of unemployed persons decreased by 155 thousand to 4 million 60 thousand persons.

Seasonally adjusted employment rate stood at 45.3 percent with a 0.2 percentage point decrease. The number of employed persons was estimated at 28 million 90 thousand with a 101 thousand decrease compared with the same period of the previous year.

Seasonally adjusted labor force participation rate was 51.8 percent with a 0.5 percentage point decrease. The number of labor force was estimated at 32 million 150 thousand persons with a 256 thousand decrease.

According to the seasonally adjusted number of employment by sectors, employment in agriculture decreased by 32 thousand persons, industry decreased by 50 thousand persons and services decreased by 20 thousand persons while construction increased by 2 thousand persons. (HA/VK)