Turkey: Jobless rate ratchets up in July to 9.8 pct

ANKARA

Turkey’s unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in July, increasing from 9.6 percent in June 2015, the Turkish Statistical Institute reported on Thursday.

Unemployment remained unchanged at 9.8 percent from July 2014. There were 2.97 million out of work, an increase of 90,000.

“The Turkish economy has quickened its pace of job creation, but a rapid rise in the labor force led to an increase in unemployment," the World Bank said in a report published on Oct. 7.

The rate of labor force participation also increased to 52.4 percent, with 30.31 million people in work, up 1.35 million from the same period in the previous year, and from 30.14 million in work in June 2015.

The proportion of women in work rose to 32.4 percent, a 1.6 percentage point increase over the year to July. The rate for men increased by 0.5 percentage points to 72.8 percent.

The Turkish unemployment rate has gradually been declining, moving closer to the OECD average of 7 percent, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said in a report in August.