Here’s the real picture: 1 in 3 people are unemployed

The report of the study of the Department of Strategy and Budget of the Presidency, which analyzes the evolution of the labor market, revealed that the real number of unemployed in Turkey is around 11.5 million, not 3.6 million. The report titled ‘Macro Analysis of Labor Market Developments’, published with the approval of Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, focused on the period from 2014 to March 2023.

has grown exponentially

In the analysis, in addition to the normal unemployment rate announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), ‘idle labor’ data, which monitors those who are not working in any job, was also included. In idle labor; There are people who are looking for work but cannot return to work in a short time, and people of working age who want to work but are not looking for work and can return to work in a short time. time. Also included in this group are people who appear to have a job but want to work normal hours but cannot find the job they are looking for, have to work less than 40 hours a week in temporary jobs.

Before the transition to the presidential system, the number of official unemployed in the first three months of 2018 was 3 million 312 thousand, the number of idle workers was 4 million 727 thousand and the total number of unemployed was 8 million 39 thousand . In the first three months of 2023, the number of official unemployed rose to 3 million 599 thousand, the number of unemployed in the idle labor force to 7 million 934 thousand and the total number of unemployed to 11 million 533 thousand. Since the transition to the presidential system, the unemployed increased by 287,000, the unemployed who remained in the idle labor force by 3,207,000, and the total army of unemployed increased by 3,494,000 people.

America Made a Difference in Preventing Unemployment

Examples of countries that peaked during the pandemic period and declined rapidly after the pandemic were included in the report. The report noted that the US reduced the unemployment rate, which peaked at 13 percent during the pandemic period, to 3.5 percent in the first quarter of 2023, while unemployment declined. to 6 percent in the EU-27 region and to 3.5 percent in the first quarter of 2023. 2.9 percent in Germany after the pandemic drew attention. In the report, it was stated that the unemployment rate in Turkey, which was close to 14 percent during the pandemic period, fell to 10.1 percent and reached the pre-pandemic period.