Türkiye's unemployment rate drops to lowest since July 2012

ANKARA

Türkiye's unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points month-on-month to 8.2% in February, marking its lowest level since July 2012, according to official data released on Thursday.

The number of jobless aged 15 and over dropped 95,000 to 2.886 million, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed.

The unemployment rate for men ticked up to 6.7% from 6.6%, while it fell to 11% from 11.9% for women.

The labor force participation rate decreased by 0.4 points from a month ago to 53.2% in February.

The employment rate fell by 0.3 points to 48.8% this February, meaning 32.3 million people.

Youth unemployment, defined as those aged 15-24, edged up 0.1 points to 15%. The rate was 10.8% for males and 22.7% for females in February.