Türkiye’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.5 percent in the third quarter of 2025, according to official data released on Tuesday, masking significant movements beneath the surface of the labour market as employment shifted away from industry and into the services sector.

The latest figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) showed that while the seasonally adjusted headline rate was stable, the number of unemployed people fell by 26,000 to 3.01 million. The data continued to reveal a persistent gender gap, with the unemployment rate for men at 7.0 percent, compared to 11.2 percent for women.

The report indicated a mixed economic picture. Overall employment rose by 65,000 to 32.56 million, yet the labour force participation rate slightly declined to 53.5 percent. The disparity in participation was also stark, with 71.2 percent of men in the labour force versus 36.2 percent of women.

A major theme of the quarterly report was a dramatic sectoral realignment. The services sector was the primary engine of job creation, adding 159,000 positions. The construction sector also saw growth, adding 40,000 jobs, and agriculture employment increased by 13,000.

These gains were largely offset by a sharp contraction in industrial employment, which fell by 147,000. Economists suggest the decline in manufacturing and industry may be linked to higher borrowing costs and slowing global demand.

There was a mild improvement in the youth unemployment rate for those aged 15-24, which fell to 15.3 percent from 15.8 percent. However, the figure for young women remained critically high at 21.8 percent, highlighting ongoing structural barriers for new entrants to the job market.

Other signals pointed towards a tightening labour market. The average weekly working hours increased to 42.5 hours, and the broadest measure of labour underutilization—which includes those who have given up searching for work or are working part-time but want full-time hours—fell significantly to 29.4 percent.

Despite this improvement, this rate remains substantially higher than the official unemployment figure, indicating that slack persists in the Turkish workforce. (ILKHA)