Turkey's unemployment rate at 13.1% in March

ANKARA

Turkey's unemployment rate read 13.1% in March, down 0.1 percentage point month-on-month, the country's statistical authority announced on Monday.

The number of unemployed people aged 15 and over increased by 59,000 to 4.2 million in March compared to February, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said in a statement.

The employment rate realized as 44.3% with a 0.8 percentage point monthly rise as the number of employed people rose by 550,000 to 28.9 million.

Labor force participation reached 51% in March, up 0.9 percentage point compared to the previous month.

Over 32 million people are taking part in the country's labor force, with a rise of 610,000 in March versus a month earlier, according to TurkStat.

The youth unemployment rate in the 15-24 age group was 25% in March, posting a 0.7 percentage point monthly fall.

According to employment distribution by sector, 54.3% was services, followed by industry with 22%, agriculture with 17.3%, and construction with 6.4%.

The report said the rate of women participating in the workforce was 31.7%, a 1.8 percentage point rise compared to the same month last year.

Meanwhile, the rate of unregistered employment, which indicates the share of employment not affiliated with the country's Social Security Institution in total employment, realized as 28.9% with a 0.4 percentage point rise in March compared to the same month of the previous year.

The rate of unregistered employment in the non-agricultural sector was 17.8% in the month, marking 1.2 percentage points fall year-on-year.