Türkiye’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.6% in September 2025, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced on Monday.

According to the Household Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons aged 15 and over rose slightly by 12,000, reaching 3 million 75 thousand. The unemployment rate was estimated at 7.4% for men and 11.1% for women, showing no change from the previous month.

The number of employed persons fell by 200,000 in September, bringing the total to 32 million 491 thousand. Consequently, the seasonally adjusted employment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 48.9%.

By gender, the employment rate stood at 66.3% for men and 31.8% for women.

The labour force participation rate decreased by 0.3 percentage point to 53.5% in September. The total number of people in the labour force dropped by 188,000, reaching 35 million 566 thousand.

The participation rate was 71.6% for men and 35.7% for women, TurkStat reported.

The youth unemployment rate (ages 15–24) declined by 0.9 percentage point from the previous month to 14.9%. Among young men, unemployment stood at 11.4%, while for young women it was significantly higher at 21.4%.

The seasonally and calendar adjusted average weekly actual working hours rose to 42.9 hours, up by 1.0 hour from August.

The composite measure of labour underutilization—which combines unemployment, potential labour force, and time-related underemployment—fell by 1.2 percentage points to 28.6% in September.

The combined rate of time-related underemployment and unemployment was reported at 18.0%, while the combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force stood at 20.5%, according to TurkStat.

Overall, while Türkiye’s headline unemployment rate remained stable in September, the decline in employment and labour force participation suggests ongoing challenges in the labor market, even as working hours and underutilization indicators showed modest improvement. (ILKHA)