The Turkish Statistical Institute announced on Monday that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 8.5% in December 2024, showing a slight decrease of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month.

According to the Household Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons aged 15 years and over decreased by 39,000 to 3.026 million in December 2024. The unemployment rate for men was estimated at 6.9%, while for women, it was higher at 11.4%.

The seasonally adjusted employment rate was recorded at 49.5%, with the number of employed persons decreasing by 54,000 to 32.718 million in December 2024 compared to the previous month. The employment rate for men was significantly higher at 66.9% compared to 32.4% for women.

The labour force participation rate also saw a decline, reaching 54.1% in December 2024, down by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. The number of persons in the labour force decreased by 94,000 to 35.743 million. For men, the participation rate was 71.9%, while for women, it was 36.6%.

The seasonally adjusted youth unemployment rate (for individuals aged 15-24) increased by 0.5 percentage points to 16.3% in December 2024. This rate was 13.1% for young men and 22.1% for young women.

The seasonally and calendar-adjusted average weekly actual working hours of persons at work during the reference period remained unchanged at 42.9 hours in December 2024.

The composite measure of labour underutilization, which includes time-related underemployment, potential labour force, and unemployment, remained steady at 28.2% in December 2024. The combined rate of time-related underemployment and unemployment was 18.4%, while the combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force was 19.5%. (ILKHA)