Record Rise İn Unemployment Rate Prevented"

The losses in agricultural and industrial employment in Turkey had impact on the constant stance of overall unemployment sticking to double digit with 10.5 percent, while the increase in construction and service sector's employment rate eased the unemployment rate's potential sharper increase.

The Center For Economic and Social Research (BETAM) released a report conducted by academics Prof. Seyfettin Gürsel, Gökçe Uysal and Melike Kökkızıl, entitled "Employment Increase in Construction and Services".

According to BETAM's note evaluating the Turkstat data released on Feb. 15, in the period of November 2015 - including October, November and December - seasonally adjusted labor force data marked the unemployment rate as 12.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) Research Institute data showed that the increase multiplied by more than 10 for "unemployed workers" and this "prevented the breaking of unemployment rate record in the Republic's history" in the term of November.

If the persons in question were included as unemployed in the data, the official unemployment rate would rise by 11.5 percent and hit a record-breaking level by 3 million 333 thousand people, according to DİSK. - Istanbul