Türkiye's unemployment rate falls to 8.5% in August

The number of unemployed persons aged 15 and over dropped by 89,000 compared to the previous month, bringing the total to 3.05 million. This marked a 0.3 percentage point decline from July, with unemployment rates for men at 7.0% and for women at 11.4%.

The seasonally adjusted employment rate rose slightly by 0.1 percentage points to 49.7% in August 2024. The total number of employed persons reached 32.78 million, with employment rates of 67.1% for men and 32.6% for women.

The labour force participation rate also saw a slight decrease, falling by 0.1 percentage points to 54.3%. In August, the number of people in the labour force stood at 35.83 million, with participation rates of 72.1% for men and 36.8% for women.

The unemployment rate for young people (aged 15-24) increased by 0.1 percentage points to 16.5%, with the rate for men at 13.8% and for women at 21.4%.

Türkiye’s composite measure of labour underutilization—which includes time-related underemployment, potential labour force, and unemployment—rose to 27.2%, up by 0.7 percentage points from the previous month. This included a combined rate of 18.2% for time-related underemployment and unemployment, and 18.7% for unemployment and the potential labour force.

The average weekly actual working hours increased slightly to 42.7 hours, while the report noted that previous months’ data were revised according to seasonal adjustment methods. (ILKHA)