ADDS TURKISH VICE PRESIDENT'S COMMENTS
By Mucahithan Avcioglu
ISTANBUL (AA) - Unemployment in Türkiye rose to 8.1% in January from 7.8% the previous month, the country’s statistical authority said Friday.
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported that the number of unemployed people age 15 and over rose by 73,000 to 2.82 million.
Unemployment stood at 6.6% among men and 11% among women in January.
Meanwhile, employment also declined, with 516,000 fewer people working, bringing the total number of employed to 32.95 million. The overall employment rate was 47.9%, including 65.3% for men and 30.9% for women.
The labor force fell by 443,000 to 33.77 million, with the participation rate at 52.1%.
Youth unemployment – covering those age 15 to 24 – edged up by 0.1 percentage points from December 2025 to 14.3% in January. It was 11.9% for men and 19% for women.
Commenting on the data, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said the unemployment rate remains in single digits thanks to the policies implemented by the government.
“In January 2026, according to seasonally adjusted data, the unemployment rate reached 8.1%, marking the 33rd consecutive month in single digits," Yilmaz wrote on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.
He noted that to support employment growth, a fundamental element of social and economic well-being, the government is focusing on employment in labor-intensive sectors while simultaneously implementing new programs to improve the quality of employment.
"We are implementing the GUC (Youth Production Age) program to encourage the active participation of potential workforce in the economy, facilitate the transition of young people into employment, develop their production-oriented skills, and thus increase youth employment," Yilmaz stated.
He stressed that they are also implementing new support programs to boost companies' access to finance and support investment and employment.
"With our investment, employment, production, and export-oriented policies, we aim to permanently increase social welfare within a perspective of balanced growth and strengthening stability," Yilmaz added.