LABOR MARKET OUTLOOK BEFORE THE CORONA PANDEMIC: DECREASE IN UNEMPLOYMENT
ALONG WITH DROP IN EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR FORCE
Seyfettin Gürsel, Hamza Mutluay
Seasonally adjusted labor market data shows that in the period of January 2020, non-agricultural unemployment rate turned out to be 14.6 percent, with 5.0 percentage point decrease compared to December 2019. In this period, non-agricultural employment decreased by 69 thousand while non-agricultural labor force decreased by 241 thousand. Despite decreases in employment, the number of unemployed decreased by 172 thousand as a result of the unprecedented decline in the labor force. According to sectorial data, employment losses occurred in all sectors except construction. While construction employment increased by 2 thousand, manufacturing employment and services employment decreased by 50 thousand and 20 thousand, respectively. Based on the seasonally adjusted data, while female employment increased by 39 thousand, female labor force decreased by 58 thousand. Thus, female non-agricultural unemployment rate turned out to be 19.6, with 1.0 percentage point decrease compared to December 2019.