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Hopes increase in April for steady growth in Turkey’s employment
The Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) released its latest Household Labor Force Survey for April on Thursday, showing that unemployment has retreated to 12 percent, 1.7 percentage points lower than the preceding month. The figures show that the number of unemployed decreased by 367,000 in April over March.
Unemployment has remained one of the chronic problems of the Turkish economy, particularly since the emergence of the 2009 global credit crunch. The rate reached the worst level in Turkish history in February 2009 when it hit 16.1 percent. Observers argue that an ongoing recovery trend in employment, which began in the spring of last year, could continue in line with anticipated economic growth in the following months. The number of individuals employed increased by 853,000 in April 2010 when compared to the same period of the previous year.
The labor force participation rate (LFPR) increased slightly by 1.6 percent to 48.8 percent in April over the fourth month of 2009. When looking at gender, the participation rate of the female labor force increased by 2.2 percent in April over the same month of 2009, while the male unemployment figure saw a 1.1 percent increase during the same period.
Non-agricultural employment also increased by 1.13 million persons in April 2010 over April 2009, signaling that urban and industrial unemployment is on the rise. Employment in agriculture also increased by 1.1 percent, or 664,000 persons, while that of services decreased by 2 percent in the given period. Of those who were employed in April 2010, 25 percent were employed in agriculture, 19.5 percent in industry, 6.3 percent in construction and 49.2 percent in services.
The working age population increased by 853,000 in April 2010 compared to the same period the previous year. Turkey’s non-institutional population increased by 805,000 and has reached 71.17 million, while the non-institutional working age population increased by 853,000 and reached 52.36 million in April 2010. Around 2.01 million people either started work or changed their current job in April 2010, accounting for 8.9 percent of total employment. Turkey’s unregistered employment -- people employed without being registered with the Social Security Institution (SGK) -- also increased by 0.6 percent to 43.3 percent of total employment in April over the same month of 2009. The largest share of unregistered employment was seen in agriculture with 85.1 percent while 29.4 percent of total non-agricultural employment was unregistered in April.
Industry and Trade Minister Nihat Ergün said yesterday in Tekirdağ that Turkey started to make up for the losses in domestic production and exports. The minister stated that the recent recuperation in industrial output and exports played a major role in contributing to Turkey’s employment.
A report issued by Bahçeşehir University’s Center for Economic and Social Research (BETAM) on Thursday said the April figures signal a more-than-anticipated growth in Turkey’s economy in the months to come. “In an atmosphere where non-agricultural employment and industrial employment both enjoy strong and steady growth, one could assume that the drop in unemployment will continue. Turkey could reach pre-crisis levels in unemployment should the current drop in the unemployment rate continue in the second half of the year, too,” the report reads.
Evaluating the results Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO) President Nurettin Özdebir said on Thursday in Ankara that the latest indices show that the Turkish economy started to regain its past buoyancy. Underlining the importance of maintaining the same success in the economy in the following months, Özdebir said the government should exert more effort to minimize underground economic activities than it currently does.
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