Turkish unemployment up to 13.8pc before coronavirus shock

• Seasonally adjusted, the unemployment rate fell to 12.6pc from 13.0pc a month earlier, and from 13.4pc a year earlier.
• Turkish unemployment has remained lofty since mid-2019 even while the economy emerged from a recession brought on by a currency crisis in 2018.

ISTANBUL: Turkey's unemployment rate ticked up to 13.8pc in the December-February period from 13.7pc a month earlier, data showed on Friday, suggesting joblessness will remain high as the coronavirus outbreak delivers a shock beginning in March.

Seasonally adjusted, the unemployment rate fell to 12.6pc from 13.0pc a month earlier, and from 13.4pc a year earlier.

Turkish unemployment has remained lofty since mid-2019 even while the economy emerged from a recession brought on by a currency crisis in 2018.

In the same three-month period a year ago the unemployment rate stood at 14.7pc, its highest in a decade.

In the latest period, the non-agricultural jobless rate edged down to 15.7pc, from 15.8pc a month earlier, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.

Turkey is tipping into another likely recession due to coronavirus containment measures that have brought the economy near a standstill. Turkey, which has more than 40,000 confirmed cases, is also mulling a temporary ban on layoffs.

Overall workforce participation was down to 51pc in the latest period, its lowest since February 2016.