Türkiye’s job market faces challenges: Youth unemployment surges to over 6%

Türkiye’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.8% during the second quarter of 2024, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). The number of unemployed individuals increased by 23,000, bringing the total to 3.16 million.

More unemployed women than men

• Gender disparity: Unemployment rates differed by gender, with 7.3% for men and 11.7% for women.
• Youth unemployment: Youth unemployment for those aged 15-24 increased by 0.4 percentage points, reaching 16.3%. The rate was higher among women (21.5%) than men (13.7%).
• Underemployment: The underutilized labor force rate, which includes those in time-related underemployment and potential labor force, rose to 27.3%, an increase of 2.2 percentage points. The combined rate of underemployment and unemployment was 19.2%.

Which sectors struggle with unemployment in Türkiye?

Employment numbers rose by 205,000 in the second quarter of 2024, raising the total employed population to 32.66 million. The overall employment rate increased slightly to 49.6%.

• Sectoral distribution: Employment in the services sector accounted for 58.1% of all jobs, followed by agriculture (14.7%), industry (20.5%), and construction (6.7%). Notably, the industry sector saw a decline of 50,000 jobs, while the service sector grew by 157,000.

Rising labor force and working hours

The labor force participation rate climbed to 54.4%, with an additional 228,000 people joining the labor force, bringing the total to 35.82 million.

• Working hours: The average weekly actual working hours for employed individuals increased to 44.0 hours, up by 0.4 hours from the previous quarter.