Actual unemployment figures exceed seven million in Turkey, opposition claims

Duvar English

Turkey's actual unemployment figuresstand at 7,724,000, in stark contrast to official figures of4,243,000, according to a recent report prepared by the mainopposition Republican People's Party (CHP)'s parliamentary group.

The latest official figures from theTurkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) indicate that the country'sunemployment rate stood at 13 percent as of June 2019, a year-on-yearincrease of 2.8 percent. The official number of unemployed people inTurkey increased by an alarming 938,000, compared to June 2018.TurkStat's numbers also showed youth unemployment (pertaining tothose aged 15-24) at 24.8 percent, a 5.4 percent increase. The youthunemployment rate tends to be substantially higher than the overallrate.

According to the CHP's report, theofficial figure of 4.2 million doesn't reflect the actual severity ofthe country's unemployment woes noting that the figure increases to6.6 million when the number of those who are not actively searchingfor work due to the belief that they won't be able to find it istaken into account. That number accelerates further to 7.7 millionwhen including those working one job but searching for employment intheir usual field, as well as those who are working short-term jobsbut who are able and/or willing to take on full-time employment.

The 7.7 million figure puts Turkey'sunemployment rate at 22 percent, significantly beyond the officialrate of 13 percent. Turkey's economy has struggled in recent years,amid a weakened lira, high inflation rates that have resulted inballooning prices of everyday goods, and a sluggish job market thathas kept unemployment figures in double digits.