Turkey's unemployment rate at 12.3 pct in November

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA

Turkey's unemployment rate reached 12.3 percent in November 2018, the country's statistical authority announced on Friday.

November's figure was up two percentage points compared to the same month a year earlier, the TurkStat data revealed.

The number of unemployed persons aged 15 years and over increased by 706,000 to reach 3.98 million in the month.

The non-agricultural unemployment rate reached 14.3 percent, rising 2.1 percentage points from the same month last year.

The youth unemployment rate -- persons aged between 15 and 24 -- surged 4.3 percentage points year-on-year to hit 23.6 percent in November last year.

The unemployment rate for the age group 15-64 also saw a rise of 2.1 percentage points to 12.6 percent over the same period.

The TurkStat data showed that the employment rate fell 0.8 percentage points year-on-year, reaching 46.5 percent in November 2018.

The number of employed people fell 201,000 to reach 28.3 million during the same period.

"According to the distribution of employment by sector; 17.7 percent was employed in agriculture, 20 percent was in industry, 6.5 percent was in construction and 55.8 percent was in services," the institute said.

In November 2018, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) rose by 0.2 percentage point from the same period last year to reach 53 percent.

"LFPR for was 72.4 percent with a 0.3 percentage point increase and the rate for was 34.1 percent with a 0.3 percentage point increase compared with the same period of the previous " TurkStat said.

The government aims to reach an unemployment rate of 11.3 percent in 2018, 12.1 percent this year, 11.9 next year and 10.8 percent in 2021, under the new economic program announced in September last year.

Turkey targets to generate 2 million new jobs by the end of the new economic Medium-Term Program period.

Last year, the lowest unemployment rate was observed in April with 9.6 percent.

Since November 2013, the highest unemployment rate was 13 percent in January 2017, while the lowest was in May 2014 with 8.8 percent.