UNEMPLOYMENT DECREASED, INCREASES IN EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR FORCE DECELERATED
Seyfettin Gürsel and Mehmet Cem Şahin
Seasonally adjusted labor market data shows that in the period of August 2020, non-agricultural unemployment rate turned out to be 15.4 percent, with 0.4 percentage point decreases compared to July 2020. In this period, both non-agricultural employment and labor force increased by 258 thousand and by 182 thousand respectively. According to sectoral data, employment increased in all sectors. While employment in construction sector increased by 9 thousand, employment in manufacturing and services increased by 106 thousand and 144 thousand, respectively. According to seasonally adjusted data, female non-agricultural employment increased by 94 thousand and labor force by 74 thousand. As a result, non-agricultural female unemployment rate decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 18.6 percent. As for male labor force and employment, they increased by 162 thousand and 213 thousand respectively, taking down non-agricultural male unemployment rate from 14.5 to 14.1 percent. The existing gender gap in non-agricultural unemployment rate narrowed by 0.1 percentage points to 4.5.