Unemployment statement from DİSK-AR: Benefit detail... 'The real number of unemployed is not 3.1 million'

DİSK-AR, drawing attention to the results of the November 2023 Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT), shared the following data based on the research:

"The seasonally adjusted narrow-defined unemployment rate was 9 percent, while the seasonally adjusted broad-defined unemployment rate (idle labor force) was 22.7 percent. According to TURKSTAT, the number of narrow-defined unemployed (seasonally adjusted) among people aged 15 and over in Turkey was 3 million 116 thousand in November 2023.

According to the calculation made by DİSK-AR using TURKSTAT data, the seasonally adjusted broad-defined number of unemployed was 8 million 671 thousand in November 2023. According to TURKSTAT, the narrow-defined unemployment rate, which was 13.3 percent in November 2019 before the pandemic, was 9 percent in November 2023. However, in the same years, broad-defined unemployment rose from 18.4 percent to 22.7 percent. In the last year, the number of broad-defined unemployed increased by 795 thousand, rising from 7.8 million to 8.6 million (Chart 1). After the Covid-19 pandemic, the broad-defined unemployment rate increased by 4.3 points, and the number of broad-defined unemployed increased by 2 million 285 thousand people"

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT DETAIL

In the report, which states that the number of people who could receive unemployment benefits in November according to İŞKUR's November 2023 data was around 370 thousand, it was said: "Thus, in November 2023, only 11.9 percent of the officially unemployed could receive unemployment benefits. More than 2.7 million unemployed were deprived of unemployment benefits. This means that 88 percent of the unemployed could not receive unemployment benefits."

FEMALE UNEMPLOYMENT HAS REACHED A WORRYING LEVEL

Emphasizing that female unemployment in Turkey continues to remain significantly higher compared to men, the report stated: "In all four types of unemployment announced by TURKSTAT, female unemployment remains significantly higher than male unemployment. In November 2023, the seasonally adjusted narrow-defined unemployment rate was 7.5 percent for men and 11.8 percent for women. Broad-defined unemployment (idle labor force) was calculated as 18 percent for men and 30.8 percent for women. The difference between broad-defined female unemployment and broad-defined male unemployment is approximately 13 points."