ANKARA: The unemployment rate decreased to an eight-month low at 10.1 percent in March, with a decrease of 0.5 percentage points compared to same month last year, according to the data announced by Turkish Statistical Institute (Turkstat) on Wednesday. The number of unemployed fell by 46,000 people and stood 3.023 million. The unemployment rate also improved compared to the previous month’s rate of 10.9 percent.
Turkey’s latest unemployment rate of 10.1 percent was slightly lower than eurozone (EA19) unemployment rate of 10.2 percent for March according to data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The average rate for the European Union (EU28) was 8.8 percent in March.
Among the EU member states, the lowest unemployment rate in the same period was observed in Czech Republic (4.1 percent), while the highest unemployment rates were observed in South European countries such as Greece (24.2 percent in Feb. 2016), Spain (20.3 percent), and Croatia (15.1 percent).
Non-agricultural unemployment rate was announced at 11.9 percent with a decrease of 0.7 percentage points. Youth unemployment, which covers ages between 15 and 24, decreased by 1.6 percentage points despite the recession in tourism sector and stood at 17 percent. The unemployment rate for persons aged 15 to 64 stood at 10.3 percent with 0.5 percentage point decrease.
The number of employed people was announced as 26.993 million with an annual increase of 1.040 million. The employment stood at 46.1 percent, with an increase of 1.1 percentage points compared to March 2015. The number of people employed in agricultural sector decreased by 100,000 people in the year, which was covered by the 1.141 million increase in non-agricultural sectors. Of those who were employed in this period, 18.9 percent were employed in agriculture, 19.6 percent were employed in industry, 7.1 were employed was in construction and 54.4 were employed in services.
Turkey’s labor force reached 30.016 million people with an annual increase of 994,000 people. The Labor force participation rate (LFPR) was 51.3 percent with an increase of 0.9 percentage points. The LFPR was 71.5 percent for males and 31.6 percent for females, both increasing by 0.9 percentage points.
