DISK-AR: Broader Unemployment Rates on the Rise

Foreks - The results of the Household Labor Force Survey (HLFS) for September 2024 released on November 11, 2024. The seasonally adjusted narrow unemployment rate was 8.6%, while the seasonally adjusted broad unemployment rate (underutilized labor force) stood at 25.6%. According to the data, the number of narrow unemployed individuals (seasonally adjusted) aged 15 and over in Turkey reached 3 million 100 thousand in September 2024.

According to calculations carried out by DİSK-AR using TÜİK data, the seasonally adjusted number of broad unemployed individuals in September 2024 amounted to 10 million 271 thousand. The gap between narrow and broad unemployment has continued to widen during the periods of September 2022, 2023, and 2024. In September 2022, the narrow unemployment rate was 10.1% with 3 million 470 thousand unemployed, whereas the broad unemployment rate was 20.3% with 7 million 549 thousand unemployed. In September 2023, the narrow unemployment rate was 9.2% with 3 million 157 thousand unemployed, while the broad unemployment rate was 21.8% with 8 million 285 thousand unemployed. Although the number of narrow unemployed individuals has decreased by 370 thousand over the past two years, the number of broad unemployed individuals has increased by 2.7 million.

Other findings from the report include: "Time-related underemployment continues to grow. In September 2024, the category with the highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was broad female unemployment at 34.7%. The difference between narrow and broad unemployment stands at 17 points."