The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) published its latest labor force statistics. While headline figures suggest the overall unemployment rate has fallen compared with the same period last year, official data also show a worrying rise in unemployment among young people. According to the release, 5,760,000 people aged 15–29 are considered unemployed.
Population Rises While Labor Force Shrinks
The Turkish Statistical Institute released labor force figures for September. The number of unemployed people aged 15 and over fell by 550,000 compared with the same month last year, bringing the total uninsured population to 4,016,000. The unemployment rate declined by 1.1 percentage points to 12.7 percent. However, the official data do not fully reflect the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and recent economic turbulence. During the pandemic many businesses closed or paused operations and workers were placed on unpaid leave. With a temporary ban on dismissals in place, the statistics focus on those with active employment contracts, which masks the true scale of joblessness.
As of September, the population aged 15 and over increased by 1,159,000 over the year, reaching 62,834,000. Despite that rise, the labor force — the number of people who want to work — fell by 1,282,000 to 31,724,000. The number of people in employment decreased by 733,000, and the total number of people who want to work is down, leaving 4,016,000 recorded as unemployed. Taken together, these changes show shifts in the size of the labor force and reveal that many people who are not counted as part of the labor force are nonetheless ready and willing to work.
Not Looking for Work but Ready to Work
The number of people not included in employment statistics rose by 2,442,000 over the last year, reaching 31,110,000. Among those not searching through ISKUR or similar channels but ready to work — essentially unemployed but not actively seeking via official channels — the count increased by 1,890,000. Those who have given up looking for work because they believe they will not find a job rose by 772,000 in the past year to a total of 1,402,000. The number of people looking for short-term or casual jobs increased to 2.7 million. When only those actively searching or under an employment contract are counted, unemployment appears to fall. But official data also show increases in the numbers of people who are not searching, who have stopped searching, or who are unable to work due to health problems, indicating that hidden unemployment is growing.
Those Aged 25–29 Are Excluded from Youth Statistics
The methodology for official unemployment rates groups youth unemployment and employment rates within the 15–24 age bracket. Young people in that range who are studying, doing internships or unpaid placements are not classified as unemployed. A notable omission is the 25–29 age group, which is not included in the youth unemployment category in the statistics. As a result, an estimated 6,834,000 young people — many of them recent graduates — are effectively excluded from labor force counts. The exclusion of this large group reduces headline unemployment figures and obscures what these people are doing and why they are not reflected in the data. Those who are neither in education nor employment provide a clearer picture of underlying unemployment than the official headline numbers.