Turkish unemployment rises to 13.9pc as recession still weighs

• Turkish unemployment to a near-decade high of 14.7pc in the January and February periods.
• The non-agricultural unemployment rate rose to 16.5pc from 15.3pc a month earlier.

ISTANBUL: Turkey's unemployment rate rose to 13.9pc in the June-Aug period, while the seasonally adjusted rate hit its highest on record, according to official data on Tuesday that suggested workers are feeling the pinch from a recession that appeared to be easing.

Turkey's week-long military incursion into northeastern Syria may lead to repercussions that hit its economy and keep unemployment lofty. On Monday, Washington applied sanctions on some Turkish ministries and government officials.

A currency crisis last year sent Turkish unemployment to a near-decade high of 14.7pc in the January and February periods.

At 13.9pc, unemployment was up 3.1 percentage points in the June-Aug period compared to a year ago, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute. It stood at 13.0pc in the May-July period.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 14.3pc, its highest level in the institute's data going back to 2005, and up from 14.0pc in the previous period.

The non-agricultural unemployment rate rose to 16.5pc from 15.3pc a month earlier, the data showed, while youth unemployment was up 7.2 percentage points to 27.1pc.

In a three-year economic programme that Ankara announced last month, unemployment is seen at 12.9pc by year end and down to 11.8pc by the end of 2020.

Turkey's economy economic activity slowed in the wake of the crisis that saw the lira lose nearly 30pc last year and led to year-on-year economic contractions in the last three quarters.