UNEMPLOYMENT DECLINES WHILE THE LABOR FORCE CONTRACTS
Seyfettin Gürsel, Saliha Tanrıverdi
According to seasonally adjusted data, employment increased by 136 thousand in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter, reaching 32 million 686 thousand. Over the same period, the number of unemployed decreased by 58 thousand, and the labor force increased by 78 thousand. As a consequence, the unemployment rate declined to 8.2 percent.
Seasonally adjusted employment rose by 156 thousand among men compared to the third quarter of 2025. In contrast, female employment declined by 20 thousand, and the number of unemployed women also decreased by 20 thousand, leading to a contraction of 40 thousand in the female labor force. This indicates a quarter-on-quarter shrinkage in women’s labor force participation. Compared to the third quarter of 2025, employment increased in the industry, construction, and services sectors, while agricultural employment declined (–0.7 percent). The largest increase was recorded in industry (1.3 percent).
In year-on-year terms, compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, total employment decreased by 35 thousand and number of unemployed fell by 146 thousand, leading to a sharper decline in the labor force (180 thousand). The annual contraction in the labor force, observed over the past four quarters, appears to have been more pronounced for women in the fourth quarter of 2025. Accordingly, Türkiye’s labor market has been shrinking on an annual basis for the past 12 months.
The seasonally adjusted youth unemployment rate (ages 15–24) declined by 0.3 percentage points to 14.9 percent. Compared to the previous quarter, youth unemployment decreased by 1 percentage point among young women, reaching 20.7 percent, while it increased by 0.1 percentage points among young men to 11.8 percent. The gap between female and male youth unemployment rates narrowed from 10 percentage points to 8.9 percentage points.
Based on non-seasonally adjusted data, unemployment rates across educational groups declined slightly compared to the previous quarter, except for high school graduates. Among high school graduates, the unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage points.
The labor force contraction observed over the last four quarters signals a risk of structural weakening in Turkey’s labor market. The decline in the unemployment rate stems not from improved job creation capacity but rather from a fall in labor force participation. The contraction observed particularly among women and young women poses a significant medium-term risk to production capacity and potential growth.
doc. QuarterlyLaborMarketOutlook2025Q4
pdf. QuarterlyLaborMarketOutlook2025Q4