Türkiye's unemployment rate eased further and dropped to 8.4% in May, hitting the lowest rate in nearly 12 years, according to the official data from the country's statistical office on Wednesday.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down 0.1 percentage points compared to a month earlier, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed.
The rate was at 8.5% in April and 9.5% in May 2023, according to TurkStat's data.
The number of unemployed persons aged 15 years old and over decreased by 27,000 to 3.01 million in May 2024 compared to the previous month, TurkStat said.
The May rate marked the lowest level since November 2012. The rate was estimated at 7.0% for men and 11.0% for women, according to the data.
Commenting on the data, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz hailed what he said was a "historical peak" for the labor force participation rate, adding that the economy "continues to generate employment thanks to the employment-friendly policies we implemented during the disinflation process."
"The unemployment rate, which performed well compared to the previous month and our MTP (medium-term program) expectations, decreased by 1.1 points compared to May last year," he said in a post on social media platform X.
"While our employment increased by 1.27 million people compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching 32.9 million people, the employment rate reached its highest level at 50%. The labor force participation rate, which is an important indicator of the potential of our economy, is at a historical peak of 54.5%," he added.
The number of employed persons increased by 273,000 to 32.92 million in May 2024 compared to the previous month, the TurkStat data showed. The employment rate was 50.0%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points over the same period.
The number of persons in the labor force realized as 35.93 million in the month, up by 245,000 when compared to the month earlier, said TurkStat. The labor force participation rate was 54.5%, up by 0.3 percentage points.
The youth unemployment rate in the 15-24 age group was 15.0%, TurkStat said, rising by 0.3 percentage points month-over-month. This rate was estimated at 12.8% for men and 19.3% for women.
"As we progress through the disinflation period, we will continue to increase employment with our development-oriented policies that support entrepreneurship and innovation, covering all segments of society, especially young people and women," said Yılmaz.
Türkiye reversed years of loose monetary policy a year ago and delivered a series of interest rate hikes aimed at reining in stubbornly elevated inflation. It also announced the new medium-term program last September, focusing on curbing inflation expectations, and ensuring growth and employment fueled by production and exports.
The annual inflation rate eased to 71.6% in June, official data showed earlier this month, marking the start of a long-awaited disinflation process and is expected to continue cooling in upcoming months.
"We continue to work in line with our 12th Development Plan and MTP targets. With the steps we take, our employment is growing, and unemployment rates continue to decline," Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan said separately in a written statement on X.
"As a result of the determined steps we have taken for investment, production, employment and export-oriented growth, we are getting the results we expect in unemployment data," he added.
The minister's post included the graph citing progress in unemployment data that saw it maintaining single digits for the past 13 months.
