Turkey’s unemployment rate fell to 12.8 percent in April from 13.2 percent a month earlier, according to data released on Friday which analysts have said does not show the economic blow dealt by COVID-19, Reuters reported.
In April, the government imposed a three-month ban on layoffs to mitigate the pandemic’s impact. Analysts said after last month’s data that the unemployment fall reflects the narrow definition used, with those on unpaid leave not included.
The figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) showed a rise of more than 800,000 in the number of people not in the labor force compared to a month earlier.
The unemployment rate stood at 13 percent in April of last year. The non-agricultural unemployment rate fell to 14.9 percent from 15 percent a year earlier, according to TurkStat.
It also said the employment rate fell to 41.1 percent in April from 42.0 percent a month earlier, with the number of people not in the labor force rising to 32.932 million from 32.112 million a month earlier.
Compared to a year earlier, the number of people not in the labor force has risen by 4.072 million, the data showed.