Turkey's unemployment rate hits 10.9 percent in 2016

Turkey's unemployment rate in 2016 hit 10.9 percent, according to latest data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) yesterday.

The numbers of jobless workers in Turkey rose 0.6 percent in 2016, compared to the previous year, and reached 3.33 million with an increase of 273,000.

Dogged by terrorist attacks and a coup attempt on July 15, Turkey left behind a tough year, when unemployment rate hit 10.9 percent compared to 10.3 percent in 2015.

However, the increase could be attributed to a surge in number of people searching for jobs. The Turkish workforce was around 27.2 million strong, some 46.3 percent, in 2016. An extra 584,000 people were part of the work force last year, compared to the previous 12 months, TurkStat said, representing a 0.3 percent rise.

The rise in both employment and unemployment rates showed job creation was failing to keep up with the number of people seeking work.

Turkey's labor force reached 30.53 million in 2016, up 857,000 on 2015. The labor force participation rate rose 0.7 percentage points to 52 percent last year - a 0.4 point rise for men and a point increase among women, who recorded 32.5 percent employment.