‘Turkey’s unemployment rate is not 12.7 percent, but 26.4 percent’

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

After the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the state agency producing official statistics on the country, shared the Labor Force Statistics for September today (December 10), the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey Research Center (DİSK-AR) has issued its own report.

The DİSK-AR has underlined that "unemployment is not on the decrease, but on the increase; unemployment is not 12.7 percent, but 26.4 percent."

CLICK - Unemployment rate according to state agency: 12.7 percent

In a press release earlier today, the TurkStat has announced that the number of unemployed persons aged 15 years old and over decreased by 550 thousand to 4 million 16 thousand persons in Turkey in September when compared to last September. Accordingly, the unemployment rate was 12.7 percent, which marked a 1.1 percentage point decrease.

'Their data are "veiled" data'

Releasing a written statement against this backdrop, the DİSK has noted that the figures shared by the state agency for September is about a period when the outbreak started to subside after its most intense months of April and May and there was a reopening of the economy. "However, the grave picture persists in employment and unemployment," the DİSK has warned.

Referring to the TurkStat statistics, the DİSK has reiterated that the narrow unemployment rate and numbers announced by the institute do not reflect the destruction caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on employment; on the contrary, it covers up this destruction.

"Due to the lay-off ban in effect since April 2020, the narrow/ standard unemployment data of the TurkStat does not reflect the real picture," the statement has read, adding that "the TurkStat data are veiled data" which are "entirely caused by the deficiency of its calculation technique."

'Women's workforce dropped by 7 percent'

Against this backdrop, the DİSK has shared its own labor for statistics for September 2020. Some highlights from the report are as follows:

• Broad unemployment increased to 9.5 million people.
• The broad unemployment rate was 26.4 percent.
• The devastation of the labor market by COVID-19 and economic crisis continued in September 2020 as well.
• By using the methods of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the DİSK-AR calculated the real job loss and unemployment caused by COVID-19.
• Revised with the COVID-19 effect, the number of broad unemployment and job loss was near 10 million in September 2020.
• The revised broad unemployment and job loss rate has been calculated as 27.6 percent.
• COVID-19 caused the equivalent of at least 1 million 706 new job losses in September 2020.
• Employment fell by 733 thousand people in a year.
• Employment rate dropped to 44.1 percent.
• The number of those who are on the job has decreased by 1 million 188 thousand people over the last year.
• The number of hopeless unemployed people increased from 630 thousand to 1 million 402 thousand.
• Women are more affected by COVID-19: Women's labor force decreased by 7 percent and women's employment by 5.2 percent.

(AÖ/SD)

* Click here for the full report (in Turkish)