Unemployment rate dropped slightly in October 2014

According to the data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), in October 2014, the number of seasonally-adjusted unemployed persons increased by 9,000, while the unemployment rate reported was 10.4 percent with a decrease of 0.1 percent compared to the previous month. The amount of seasonally-adjusted employed individuals increased by 132,000 to reach 26,058,000 compared to the previous period, and seasonally-adjusted employment was reported as 45.5 percent by a 0.2 percentage point increase. Despite the increase in the number of unemployed persons with the increasing labor force participation rate, which was 51 percent in October, as a result of rising employment, the unemployment rate slowed down.

The unemployment rate hit 10.5 percent in September 2014, which was the highest number for 3.5 years. With the unemployment rate is sitting at 10.4 percent now, the number of unemployed persons aged 15 and over was reported as 3,043,000 in October 2014, with the unemployment rate hovering at 9.1 percent for males, and 13.3 percent for females. In the same period, the non-agricultural unemployment rate was 12.5 percent, and the youth unemployment rate including the 15-24 age group was at 19.7 percent, while the unemployment rate for the 15-64 age group was 10.6 percent.