Turkish unemployment edges up to 12.9pc, participation plunges yr/yr

ISTANBUL: Turkey's labour participation rate languished at 47.6pc in the April-June period as a coronavirus lockdown weighed, while a ban on layoffs saw the unemployment rate edge up just slightly to 12.9pc, data showed on Monday.

The impact of the economy hitting a near stand-still was also evident in employment, which dropped 2.4 million year-on-year in the period to 25.9 million.

Labour force participation fell from 52.9pc a year ago but rose from 47.2pc a month earlier.

The unemployment rate was 12.8pc both a month earlier and in April-June 2019.

The non-agricultural unemployment rate rose to 15.2pc from 15.0pc a year earlier, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).

In April, the government imposed a three-month ban on layoffs to mitigate the pandemic's impact. Analysts have said the unemployment fall reflects the narrow definition used, with those on unpaid leave not included.

Parliament last month approved a law allowing President Tayyip Erdogan to extend the layoff ban until July 2021.

The law gives Erdogan the authority to decide for each sector whether to extend the short labour pay benefit, a system providing additional pay to employees whose hours are cut short.

The labour force participation rate among youths, those aged 15-24, tumbled to 35.4pc in the April-June period from 43.6pc a year earlier, with the unemployment rate rising to 24.9pc from 23.3pc, the TUIK data showed.

It said the number of those not in the labour force because they have lost hope of finding work jumped to 1.358 million from 558,000 a year earlier.