Turkey’s unemployment rate edged down to 13.8 percent in the August-October period, from 14.0 percent a month earlier, according to official data on Monday that suggested jobs remain elusive despite the economy having emerged from a recession, Reuters reported.
The economy expanded 0.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, breaking three consecutive quarters of contraction brought on by last year’s currency crisis. Unemployment has been volatile but lofty after hitting a 10-year peak of 14.7 percent early this year.
Recent data have pointed to an upswing in activity, with industrial production rising for a second month in October, although the year-on-year expansion of 3.8 percent was less than expected.
The August-October jobless rate was still above the 11.4 percent level a year earlier, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said. The youth jobless rate, which hit a record high of 27.4 percent a month earlier, fell to 26.1 percent in the three-month period.
After the data, the lira stood at 5.8455 against the dollar, weaker than a close of 5.8120 on Friday.
The non-agricultural unemployment rate dipped to 16.4 percent in August-October from 16.7 percent a month earlier, the data showed. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 13.9 percent from 14.2 percent a month earlier.