ANKARA
The rate of unemployment in Turkey rose 0.2 percent from November 2014 to reach 10.9 percent in December, the Turkish Statistical Institute said in a statement Monday.
There were 3.145 million unemployed persons, but the rate of labor force participation stayed firm at 50.2 percent. The labor force participation rate was 70.8 percent for men and 30 percent for women.
The number of employed persons aged 15 years old and over was 25.642 million in December, and the employment rate was 44.7 percent.
Economists did not find the slight decline significant.
It is notable that the unemployment rate was lower than analysts' expectations, and that the number of unemployed people declined 1.9 percent from the previous year, commented Inanc Sozer, an economist with Odeabank in Istanbul.
Emre Ozsoz, an academic at the State University of New York, said the current Turkish unemployment rate increase should not cause alarm.
"A 0.2 percent increase hardly accounts for a surge in unemployment numbers, particularly when we factor in the global economic conditions affecting emerging market economies in 2014," Ozsoz said. "In Brazil for instance, the unemployment rate is at the highest level since September 2013."
“What is however worrisome in Turkish unemployment rates is the unemployment rate among the young workers (aged 15-24), which is almost double the national average (17.9%)," Ozsoz added.
Turkish Economic Association President Ercan Uygur said the employment and unemployment rates are important economic data --because they affect, not only the well-being of citizens, but also government economic policy, including monetary policy.
Turkey's central bank has kept interest rates relatively high over the past year, which government officials say is limiting growth.
"Looking ahead, we expect a further decline in the unemployment rate in correlation with the magnitude of recovery in domestic demand," Ozsoz forecast.
