Unemployment figures released

Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) announced the labor force statistics for May.

Accordingly, the number of unemployed people aged 15 and over in Turkey decreased by 56 thousand in May compared to the previous month and became 3 million 785 thousand people. Unemployment rate was calculated as 10.9 percent with a decrease of 0.3 percentage points. The unemployment rate decreased by 2.3 points compared to the same month of the previous year.

In the said month, the unemployment rate among the young population covering the 15-24 age group became 20.3 percent with an increase of 0.2 points compared to the previous month.

Seasonally adjusted, the number of employed people increased by 358 thousand in May compared to the previous month and rose to 30 million 839 thousand. The employment rate also increased by 0.5 percentage points to 47.8 percent. While this rate was 65.3 percent for men, it was 30.6 percent for women.

The seasonally adjusted workforce increased by 302 thousand people compared to the previous month and reached 34 million 624 thousand people. The labor force participation rate was also calculated as 53.6 percent with an increase of 0.4 points. The labor force participation rate was 72.2% for men and 35.5% for women.

The average weekly actual working time, adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, of those employed during the reference period decreased by 0.9 hours on a monthly basis to 44 hours in May.

The rate of idle labor force, which consists of time-related underemployment, potential labor force and the unemployed, increased by 0.8 points on a monthly basis to 22.4 percent in May. While the combined rate of time-related underemployment and the unemployed was 16 percent, the combined rate of potential workforce and unemployed was estimated at 17.7 percent.