Türkiye’s unemployment rate slips to 8.4% in January

Türkiye’s unemployment rate dropped by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month to 8.4% in January, according to official data on Friday.

The rate was down 0.7 percentage points compared to 9.1% in January 2024, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed.

The number of unemployed persons this January totaled 3 million, down by 25,000 people from the previous month. The unemployment rate was 6.5% for men and 12.1% for women.

Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan said the decline in the jobless rate continues in line with the government’s National Employment Strategy and Medium-Term Program (MTP) objectives.

The TurkStat data showed the labor force participation rate dropped 0.4 percentage points to 53.7% while a seasonally adjusted measure of labor under-utilization rose 0.1 percentage points to 28.1%.

The number of employed persons decreased by 195,000 to 32.5 million in January compared to the previous month, according to the data.

Işıkhan said the number of employed individuals increased by 501,000 compared to the previous year.

The employment rate was calculated at 49.2%, down 0.3% from December. Compared to a year ago, the rate was up 0.5%. For men, the employment rate stood at 66.4% while it was 32.3% for women.

“The labor force grew by 287,000 people over the past year, reaching 35.53 million, with the labor force participation rate rising by 0.1 percentage points to 53.7%,” said Işıkhan.

The youth unemployment rate in the 15-24 age group declined by 0.8% in January from the previous month and 1.9% from a year ago to 14.9%. This rate was estimated 10.6% for men and 22.7% for women.

“We continue to see the impact of our programs supporting the participation of young people in the workforce and enabling them to take steps in their careers,” Işıkhan noted.

“We will persist in implementing policies aligned with the needs of the labor market to achieve our goals.”