The Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey’s Research Centre (DİSK-AR) estimates that ‘broad unemployment’ and job losses in Turkey reached 14.2 million in June. The negative impact of Covid-19 on employment has continued, it noted.
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat – TÜİK) announced its results of the June 2020 Household Labour Force Survey (HİA) today. TUİK’s June 2020 data covers the period when there was reportedly a partial decline in the effects of the pandemic and the economy had been re-opened after April and May.
DİSK-AR’s statistics calculate unemployment using a broad definition of unemployment, whereas TurkStat’s figures are derived using a much more narrow and focused definition.
According to TurkStat’s figures, the number of unemployed in June was 4.1 million. The unemployment rate, according to TurkStat, stood at 13.4%. This represented a 0.4% increase in the unemployment rate.
The release of TurkStat’s figures provoked a strong reaction from a number of economists and politicians. According to the views of many analysts, the actual unemployment rate is over 50%, so they were startled to see TurkStat’s figure of 13.4%.
