Unemployment rate ticks down to 10.4 percent in December

THE NUMBER of unemployed people in Turkey aged 15 and over decreased by 581,000 to 3.29 million in December 2017, compared to the same period of the previous year, marking a 10.4 percent, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said yesterday.

TURKEY’S unemployment rate in December 2017 was 10.4 percent, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said yesterday.

According to TurkStat, the unemployment rate dropped 2.3 percentage points on a yearly basis.

The statistical body said the number of unemployed people aged 15 and over was 3.291 million last December, a fall of 581,000, year-on-year.

“The number of unemployed persons aged 15 and over decreased by 581,000 to 3.29 million in December 2017 in Turkey compared to the same period of the previous year,” it said in a statement.

In the same period, the non-agricul- tural unemployment rate was 12.3 percent, down 2.6 percentage points.

While the youth unemployment rate, covering ages 15 to 24, was 19.2 percent, down 4.8 percent. On the other hand, the unemployment rate for the 15 to 64 age group was also down 2.3 percentage points to 10.6 percent, it added.

The number of people employed rose by nearly 1.619 million during the same period, bringing the employment rate to 46.9 percent, up 1.8 percentage points on an annual basis, the statement said.

Breaking down employment by sector, 18.3 percent of people were employed in agriculture, 19.5 percent in industry, 7.3 percent in construction and 55 percent in services.

TurkStat added that the labor force participation rate (LFPR) was 52.4 percent, up 0.8 percentage points over the same period in 2016.

The LFPR for men was 71.7 percent, up 0.2 percent, and the rate for women was 33.5 percent, also up 1.3 percentage points compared with the same period the previous year, it said.

The rate of unregistered employment came in at 33.3 percent, up 0.6 percentage points from the same month in 2016, TurkStat added.

Enver Erkan, an economist at Istanbul-based GCM, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that both the raw and adjusted data are in line with market forecasts, which had expected a “little” increase in the non-adjusted unemployment rate and a “continuing moderate” drop in the adjusted unemployment rate.

“The continuing decline of the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate is a good point. As we look at the details, we see a general steady employment increase. But, the higher labor force participation rate limits the decline of the unemployment rate,” Erkan said.

He added the situation will likely be seen in the near term future also. “After the seasonal increase in the first month of 2018, we’ll see the unemployment rate at current levels.”