Türkiye’s unemployment rate shows notable decrease in February

Young Turks aged 15-24 experience a notable reduction in unemployment, with rates dropping to 15.6%, alongside an overall labor market enhancement in February 2024

Türkiye’s unemployment rate decreased to 8.7% in February 2024, down by 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, according to the latest data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).

This marks a significant improvement from the 9.1% recorded in January.

The figures represent a decrease of 109,000 unemployed individuals, bringing the total to approximately 3.08 million.

This positive shift in unemployment corresponds with increased employment, which rose by 147,000 to about 32.42 million in February.

Consequently, the employment rate increased slightly by 0.2 percentage points, settling at 49.3%.

Men enjoyed a higher employment rate at 66.5% compared to 32.5% for women.

The labor force participation rate remained stable at 54.0%, with male participation at 71.7% and female participation significantly lower at 36.6%.

A specific demographic showing marked improvement is the young population, aged 15-24, where unemployment decreased by 0.8 percentage points to 15.6%. In this age group, the unemployment rate for males was 13.4%, while for females it was considerably higher at 19.6%.

The average working hours per week for those employed, adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, slightly increased by 0.2 hours, resulting in an average of 43.5 hours.

Furthermore, the combined rate of underemployment, potential labor force, and the unemployed – the idle labor force rate – also decreased, dropping by 1.9 percentage points to 24.5%.

This composite indicator provides insight into the broader challenges within the job market beyond mere unemployment figures.

Source: Newsroom