UPDATE - Türkiye's unemployment rate dips to 8% in July

ADDS VICE PRESIDENT'S REMARKS

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) -Türkiye’s unemployment rate fell to 8% in July from 8.4% the previous month, the country’s statistical authority said Friday.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported that the number of unemployed people aged 15 and over decreased by 164,000 to 2.82 million.

Joblessness stood at 6.5% among men and 10.9% among women in July.

Employment rose slightly, with 18,000 more people working, bringing the total number of employed to 32.58 million. The overall employment rate was 49.1%, including 66.1% for men and 32.4% women.

The labor force shrank by 146,000 to 35.41 million, with the participation rate at 53.3%.

Youth unemployment -- covering those aged 15 to 24 -- dropped 0.9 percentage points from June to 15%. It was 11.3% for men and 21.7% for women.

Türkiye's Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said the strong outlook for the labor market solidified in July.

"The unemployment rate, which has remained in single digits for the last 27 months, supports production and reinforces growing confidence in the economy," Yilmaz wrote on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

He emphasized that the seasonally adjusted data for women and youth show that unemployment decreased in July, while employment rose.

"While youth labor force participation increased, unemployment improved by 1.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year, falling to 15%. For women, unemployment decreased by 1.6 percentage points to 10.9% during the same period," Yilmaz added.