Turkey: Unemployment rate at 12.2% in January

ANKARA

Unemployment in Turkey was 12.2% in January, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month, according to Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data released Wednesday.

"The number of jobless aged 15 and over decreased by 1,000 to 3.9 million in January 2021 in the country compared to December 2020," it said in a statement.

As of January, TurkStat made changes to its household workforce survey in line with International Labor Organization (ILO) and EU norms.

Under the changes, the labor force statistics shifted from three-month moving averages to independent monthly estimates, it said.

The employment rate also rose 1.2 percentage points month-on-month to 43.8%, or 27.7 million people.

Some 27.7 million people were employed in the country as of January.

The youth unemployment rate -- age 15-24 -- was 24.7% during the same period, down 0.7 percentage points.

The labor force participation rate reached 49.9% this January, up 1.2 percentage points from a month ago.

"The number of persons in the labor force realized 31.7 million with 821,000 persons increase in January 2021 compared to the previous month," it said.

The report said the number of women participating in the workforce climbed 1.2 percentage points from the previous month to 32%.

Meanwhile, the main reading was down 0.6 percentage points from the same month last year, the TurkStat data showed.