Breaking News... First unemployment figures of the year announced

The Turkish Statistical Institute has shared the labor force statistics for January 2026 with the public.

According to the institute, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate showed a 0.8 percentage point decrease in January compared to the previous month. With this decline, the unemployment rate stood at 7.7 percent.

DID UNEMPLOYMENT REALLY FALL?

The most notable point in the data is that while the number of unemployed persons decreased by 286 thousand, the number of employed persons also decreased by 42 thousand. This situation indicates that unemployment fell not because "everyone found a job," but because a total of 328 thousand people withdrew from the labor market (by stopping their job search for various reasons).

THE GAP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN PERSISTS

The gender-based disparity in the labor market remained evident in January:

Unemployment: It is at 6.3 percent for men, while it is at 10.5 percent for women.

Employment: While 66.8 percent of men are in working life, this rate remains at 31.7 percent for women.

Labor Force Participation: Only 35.5 percent of women are part of the labor force ecosystem.

BROAD UNEMPLOYMENT AT 28.6%

Although the headline unemployment rate is 7.7 percent, the rate of idle labor, which consists of time-related underemployment, the potential labor force, and the unemployed, was measured at 28.6 percent. This figure proves that the millions who want to work but are not actively searching because they have lost hope, or who are underemployed, remain a serious problem.

The average actual working hours of those at work increased by 0.8 hours to 43.1 hours. In other words, employees worked slightly more overtime compared to the previous month.

TÜİK had announced that unemployment rose by 0.1 percentage points to 8.6 percent in November 2025.

News Source: 12punto