Turkey's unemployment rate at 10.8 pct in July

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA

Turkey's unemployment rate stood at 10.8 percent in July, the country's statistical authority announced on Monday.

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), a 0.1-percentage point annual increase was observed in July figures.

Official data showed that the number of unemployed persons aged 15 years and over rose by around 88,000 on a yearly basis, totaling some 3.44 million last July.

The non-agricultural unemployment rate slipped 0.1 percentage points to 12.9 percent in the same period.

The youth unemployment rate, including persons aged 15-24, was 19.9 percent with a 1.2-percentage point decrease on a yearly basis in July.

TurkStat said unemployment for the 15-64 age group went up 0.1 percentage points to 11 percent in the same period.

In July, the employment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points from the same month last year up to 48.2 percent.

"The number of employed persons rose by 507,000 to 29.3 million persons in the period of July 2018 compared with the same period of the last year," it said.

The labor force participation rate (LFPR) rose by 0.3 percentage points on a yearly basis and reached 54 percent in the month.

"LFPR among men was 73.8 percent with a 0.3 percentage point increase and the rate among women was 34.7 percent with a 0.4 percentage point increase compared with the same period of the previous year," TurkStat said.

It also reported that the rate of unregistered employment -- people working without social security related to their principal occupation -- was 34.4 percent in July, marking a decrease of 0.9-percentage points from July 2017.

The institute will release the next unemployment report on Nov. 15.