Turkish unemployment rate down to 10.3 pct in October

ISTANBUL, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's unemployment rate fell 1.5 percentage points to 10.3 percent in October, driven mainly by high growth rates and government incentives, according to data unveiled on Monday.

The number of unemployed people aged 15 and above decreased by 360,000 to some 3.3 million in October on a year-on-year basis, while the employment rate rose to 47.6 percent in October, up 1.4 percentage points, showed the data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute.

For those aged between 15-24, the unemployment rate dropped to 19.3 percent, down by 1.9 percentage points in October.

"The decrease in unemployment is not a significant one but slightly better than the expectations and is mainly driven by high economic growth rates recorded in 2017 and government incentives taken in a move to create a significant demand on workforce," Veyis Fertekligil, an economist, told Xinhua.

The Turkish economy achieved a growth of 11.1 percent in the third quarter of 2017, marking the highest quarterly growth since 2011, according to the latest data.

"In 2017, we will most probably see an economic growth rate which will be higher than 6.5 percent or even closer to 7 percent, contributing more to the reduction of unemployment rate," said Fertekligil.

In his view, it is not easy for Turkey to maintain the growth, as economists are expecting lower rates for 2018, so the authorities should take other precautions to sustain lower rates of unemployment.

Encouraging investment especially in the field of machinery and equipment would be important as it has the potential to create more jobs, and emphasis should be laid as well on structural economic reforms and attracting more foreign direct investments.

"Otherwise we would see a high level of unemployment rates during the next couple of years," he cautioned. Enditem