The employement figures

Employment incentives in 2017 were supposed to help create jobs. But the numbers tell a different sotry.

Overall, employement benefits

from incentives. But a closer look reveals some imbalances

1 Average annual employment growth remained at 992,000

According to the calculations we made from Turkstat’s monthly labor market data, the average annual employment growth remained at 992,000 in 2017, indicating that insecurity and a lack of appetite in the economy persist. This figure is quite good compared to 2015 and 2016, both bad years, but it is also quite low compared to the increases of 1.2 to 1.4 million in 2010, 2011 and 2014. The average annual employment was 28,197,000 in 2017, with a 3.65 percent increase rate.

2 Unemployment rate remained at double-digits

As a result, the unemployment rate remained at almost the same level as 2016 at 10.9 percent. The number of unemployed increased by 121,000, or 3.63 percent, to 3,451,000 people compared to the previous year. The unemployment rate among women increased by 0.37 points to 14.07 percent. In contrast, the unemployment rate among males was 9.41 percent with a decline of 0.19 points.

3 Participation in the workforce was less than the population increase

In 2017, while the non-institutional population aged 15 years and older increased by 1,173,000 persons, the number of people participating in the workforce was 1,113,000, 60,000 less than the population increase. The number of people not included in the workforce increased by 61,000 to 28,246,000. Labor force participation increased by 0.84 percentage points to 52.84 percent while the employment rate increased by 0.75 percentage points to 47.08 percent.

4 Increase in paid employment is behind last year

The main performance indicator of “employment mobilization” is the increase in registered paid employment, which is rather poor. Employment with paid salaries increased by 590,000 in 2017, which is slightly above the 2016 increase of 550,000 and far behind the increase of 702,000 in 2015. Of the 590,000, 120,000 was shadow employement. Considering that the increase in registered paid employment in 2016, a bad year for employment, was 473,000, 2017 was no different. In 2015, registered paid employment was 781,000, far outpacing 2017.

5 Undeclared work rate increased to 33.97 percent

The undeclared rate in total employment increased by 0.48 percentage points to 33.97 percent compared to 2016, bucking the downward trend over the previous two years. The ratio of undeclared workers in agriculture reached 83.36 percent, a worrying increase of 1.26 points, or 4.62 percent.

6 Industrial employment made no progress

The employment increase was overwhelmingly spearheaded by the service sectors, which added 632,000 jobs, or 63.73 percent of the total for 2017. The share of agriculture was 16.21 percent amounting to 161,000 jobs while the share of construction was 110,000, or 11.07 percent. Employment in industry, the main sector, increased by a mere

89,000, amounting to 8.95 percent.

7 Youth unemployment rose

While the overall unemployment rate remained unchanged, the unemployment rate among young people increased by 1.14 points to 20.74 percent, marking the fastest increase over the last four years. This is the highest level seen since 2009, the year of the global economic crisis, and the first time youth unemployment surpassed the 20 percent threshold since then. The 8.35 percent increase in the number of unemployed youth, amounting to 82,000 people, is higher than the previous two years.

8 One-third youth participating in the labor force found a job

Only 39,000 young people found jobs during the “employment mobilization.” On the other hand, 82,000 lost jobs. The population of 15-24 year-olds increased by 30,000 in 2017, meaning those becoming unemployed was nearly triple those entering the workforce. Thus, the number of employed young people increased by only 0.97 percent while the number of unemployed youth increased by 8.35 percent. Only one-third of 112,000 young people who participated in the work force could find a job.

9 Female employment declined

The worsening situation affected young women the most. In 2017, while 35,000 new young women participated in the workforce, employment decreased by 18,000. The unemployment rate among young women increased by 2.36 points to 26.06 percent. The number of unemployed young women increased by 12.03 percent, or 51,000.

10 The level of non-participation in the labor force among increased

The increase in the number of idle youths was 10 percent higher than their population growth. While the number of 15-24 year-olds increased by 30,000, the number of young people who were neither in school nor at work increased by 33,000. More worringly, there was an increase in the number of idle young people with vocational and higher education while the number of idle young people without vocational training decreased. The number among non-literate youth decreased by 20,000 in 2017 and 72,000 among young people with primary or secondary school diplomas.