In February, the unemployment rate in Turkey was realized as 13.4% compared to the same month last year’s 12.7%, with an increase of 0.7 points. When compared to the previous month, it is seen that the adjusted unemployment rate increased by 0.7 points. While the youth unemployment rate was 26.9%; Non-agricultural unemployment stood at 15.3%.
When we look at the comparable periods February 2020 – February 2021, it is seen that there is a 0.7 point decrease in the labor force participation rate between the relevant periods with adjusted data. The workforce, which was 31 million 623 thousand people in the similar period of 2020, became 31 million 712 thousand people in February 2021. Labor force participation rate decreased from 50.9% to 50.1%. Looking at the seasonally adjusted data; While the employment rate decreased by 1 point compared to the same period of the previous year and became 43.4%, there was an increase of 22 thousand people in seasonally adjusted employment compared to the previous month.
Although it recorded a significant upward movement from the adjusted data in January, the narrow unemployment rate announced by TURKSTAT is far from reflecting the actual situation. With the increase in the number of unemployed, the broadly defined unemployment rate, which includes those who are out of the labor force or who give up looking for a job, is close to 30% (the most broadly defined, idle workforce rate: 28.3%). The fact that the difference is so great makes the perceived situation of the labor market worse than the official one. Although the short-time work allowance was abolished by the end of March, since the dismissal ban will continue for another 2 months; There may also be an increase in the number of idle employees in the workforce. This difference will not be reflected in official data due to the narrow definition of unemployment rate. After the abolition of employment incentives, unemployment rate will also increase.
Kaynak Tera Yatırım
Hibya Haber Ajansı
Kaynak: Hibya Haber Ajansı