Turkish Jobless Rate Rises to 8.1% in July

Turkey’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 8.1% in July 2026 from 7.6% in the previous month, which was the lowest jobless rate since the data series began in 2005. The latest reading was the same as the May figure, with the number of unemployed individuals increasing by 150,000 to 2.86 million. By gender, the jobless rate stood at 6.8% for men and 10.6% for women. Among youth aged 15–24, the unemployment rate climbed to 14.5% from 13.0%, with rates of 11.3% for men and 20.3% for women. Meanwhile, the employment rate fell to 48.3% from 48.9%, as the number of employed persons decreased by 338,000 to 32.36 million. The labor force participation rate dropped to 52.5% from 52.9%, with the labor force declining by 288,000 to 35.22 million. Average weekly actual working hours stood at 42.0 hours in July, down by 0.4 hours from the previous month.






