ANKARA
Unemployment in Turkey dropped slightly in February, according to a statement by the Turkish Statistical Institute on Friday.
The jobless rate stood at 11.2 percent in February, down 0.1 percentage point from January.
About 3.23 million Turks were looking for a job, down from 3.26 million in January. However, it is still an increase of 401,000 compared with the same month last year.
"The unemployment rate is much higher than last year. It was 10.2 percent. Now it is 11.2 percent. Given the weakness in economic activity in the first quarter of the year, this should be seen as normal," Ozlem Derici, chief economist of DenizInvest in Istanbul said.
"But even if we see a recovery in the second half of the year, even with the impact of a higher growth on employment, it is hard to see a significant decline in the unemployment rate soon," she added, stressing a permanent improvemmet is possible only if a positive growth outlook prevails in second half of the year.
Youth unemployment, meaning unemployment among the 15-24 age group, remained at 20 percent in Turkey.
"Youth employment is quite high but it is a structural problem. Another structural problem is also the lower workforce participation rate among women. There is not an immediate solution. It will continue to remain high for many long years to come." Derici commented.
Derici said that an improvement in predictablity after the elections, due in less than a month, will certainly contribute to an employment increase.
