ANKARA
Turkey's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10.2 percent this June, the country's statistical authority announced on Monday.
Official data showed that the number of unemployed persons age 15 years and over rose by around 64,000 on a yearly basis, totalling some 3.3 million in June.
"In the same period, the non-agricultural unemployment rate occurred as 12.1 percent, with a 0.1 percentage point decrease," the institute said.
"While the youth unemployment rate, including persons age 15-24, was 19.4 percent with a 1.2 percentage point decrease, the unemployment rate for persons age 15-64 occurred as 10.4 without any change," it added.
In May, the country's unemployment rate was 9.7 percent with nearly 3.1 million unemployed persons age 15 years and above, a drop of 0.5 percentage points compared to the same month in 2017.
More people employed
TurkStat noted that the number of employed people rose 611,000 on a yearly basis to reach 29.3 million in June, taking the employment rate to 48.4 percent, a 0.4-percentage point annual increase.
"According to the distribution of employment by sector, 19.2 percent were employed in agriculture, 19.6 percent were in industry, 7.2 percent were in construction, and 54 percent were in services," it said.
The number of people in the labor force totaled some 32.6 million in June -- up 675,000 on a yearly basis -- while the labor force participation rate (LFPR) was 53.8 percent, climbing 0.4 percentage points.
The LFPR for males was 73.4 percent, up 0.4 percentage points annually, and for females was 34.6 percent, rising 0.5 percentage points over the same period.
Official figures also showed that the rate of unregistered employment -- people working without social security related to their principal occupation -- was 34 percent in June, falling 0.7 percentage points year-on-year.
The institute will release its next report on this subject on Oct. 15.
Last year, the lowest unemployment rate was seen in May and June with 10.2 percent. Over the past five years, the highest unemployment rate was 13 percent in January 2017, while the lowest was in June 2013 with 8.1 percent.
