Economy collapses in Turkey: Unemployment at 13.4 percent

The number of people employed fell to 28.34 million in October, down 527,000 from the same month of previous year.

Unemployment in Turkey stood at 13.4 percent in October, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜIK). The October figure showed an annual rise of 1.8 percent.

TÜIK said: "The number of unemployed persons aged 15+ increased by 608,000 to 4.39 million persons in the period of October 2019 in Turkey compared with the same period of the previous year."

Non-agricultural unemployment rate stood at 15.7 percent, a 2.1 percent rise year-on-year.

The unemployment rate for young people aged 15-24 surged 3 percent to 25.3 percent during the same period.

The figure for unemployed people aged 15-64 climbed 1.8 percent to 13.7 percent in the month on a yearly basis.

The number of people employed fell to 28.34 million in October, down 527,000 from the same month of previous year, indicating a 45.9 percent employment rate in the country.

"According to the distribution of employment by sector, 17.9 percent were employed in agriculture, 20 percent in industry, 5.8 percent in construction, and 56.3 percent in services," it said.

Turkey's labor force participation rate dropped 0.7 percent to 53 percent in October year-on-year.