Unemployment up as Akbank sacks 1,700
Posted by meb at November 18th, 2008
Turkey’s unemployment rate stood at 9.8 percent in August, a 0.6 percent rise from July, and is likely to rise further as companies such as one of Turkey’s largest banks, Akbank, lay off staff.
The latest Household Labor Survey, released yesterday by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat), showed an increase in unemployment in urban areas of 0.4 percent to 12 percent and hitting 6.3 percent in rural areas. The number of unemployed people in Turkey is now 2.43 million, the institute said.
In August 2008, the total non-institutional population of Turkey (excluding those serving in the military, students and prisoners) increased by 767,000 to 69.75 million; in this group, the number of those who are of working age increased by 770,000 to 50.87 million. When assessing the active labor force and the unemployment rate, TurkStat does not count those who are not actively seeking work, approximately halving the number of those who are counted in the statistics. In the same period, the actual numbers of those employed increased by 449,000 to 22.5 million people over the same period last year, bringing the total unemployment rate to 9.8 percent. Numbers employed in agriculture increased by 140,000 while those in the non-agricultural sector increased by 310,000.Of those working in August, 28.1 percent were employed in agriculture, 19.5 in industry, 5.9 percent in construction and 46.5 percent in the service sector. The figures show a small increase in the percentage of those employed in the industrial and agriculture sectors, with a drop in those working in construction.
The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) climbed during August to 49.8 percent, a 0.5 percent rise compared to August 2007.
In August 2008, the total non-institutional population of Turkey (excluding those serving in the military, students and prisoners) increased by 767,000 to 69.75 million; in this group, the number of those who are of working age increased by 770,000 to 50.87 million. When assessing the active labor force and the unemployment rate, TurkStat does not count those who are not actively seeking work, approximately halving the number of those who are counted in the statistics. In the same period, the actual numbers of those employed increased by 449,000 to 22.5 million people over the same period last year, bringing the total unemployment rate to 9.8 percent. Numbers employed in agriculture increased by 140,000 while those in the non-agricultural sector increased by 310,000.
Of those working in August, 28.1 percent were employed in agriculture, 19.5 in industry, 5.9 percent in construction and 46.5 percent in the service sector. The figures show a small increase in the percentage of those employed in the industrial and agriculture sectors, with a drop in those working in construction.
The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) climbed during August to 49.8 percent, a 0.5 percent rise compared to August 2007. In August 2008, the LFPR for men was 73 percent, a 0.1 percent increase over a year before, with an August 2008 LFPR figure for women of 27.1 percent, a rise of 1 percent. The urban LFPR was 46.9 percent, an increase of 0.6 percent, and the rural LFPR increased 0.7 percent to 55.2 percent.
TurkStat figures also indicated that the share of the unregistered labor force, whose social security contributions were not paid by employers, decreased by 2.1 percent to 46.6 percent. The percentage of unregistered agricultural workers decreased from 88.3 percent to 87.4 percent over the same period, and those in the non-agriculture sector decreased from 33.3 percent to 30.7 percent.
In the one-year period between August 2007 and August 2008, 1.56 million people either started a new job or changed jobs, 6.9 percent of the total labor force in Turkey. Moreover, 16.1 percent of those currently unemployed left their jobs in search of new ones.
Akbank, a leading private bank in Turkey, is reported to have dismissed 1,700 workers on Friday — a move that has been read by many as a signal of the arrival of the global financial crisis to Turkey.
A laid-off worker from Akbank told an online wire service yesterday that the bank explained dismissing employees as a necessary restructuring operation. Akbank, on the other hand, has not publicized any details about the lay-offs. The bank did not dismiss any workers during the 2001 crisis — the most severe crisis to have hit the Turkish economy — even as other banks raced to downsize their staff as a measure to minimize risk. In the meantime, a person who did not want to be identified said banking giant Citigroup is cutting another 53,000 jobs in the coming quarters. Citigroup owns Citibank, the partner bank of Turkey’s Akbank.
source: Today’s Zaman
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