Turkey’s jobless rate — running at a record 16.1 percent and even higher among young people — poses a major challenge for the government amid a steep economic downturn with possibly heavy social consequences, analysts said.
Unemployment is chronically high and the problem is compounded because the population is overwhelmingly young.
New entrants swell the workforce each year and a decline in the farming sector is driving the migration of unqualified laborers to urban areas.
“The jobless rate was already high and now with the global economic crisis, it has shot up faster than in other countries,” said Nurhan Yenturk, an economist at Istanbul’s Bilgi University.
The government, she said, delayed the introduction of much-needed “radical measures” as it sought to play down the impact of the global crisis on Turkey, wary of its political cost ahead of local elections in March.
The rising jobless rate hit 16.1 percent, or 3.8 million people, in the three months to the end of March, up from 15.5 percent in the three months to February, official data released on Friday showed.
The rate among people aged 15 to 24 was even more alarming, at 28.6 percent, up from 27.9 percent the previous month.
Economist Gungor Uras said demographic trends are at the core of the problem — Turkey’s population grew 1.31 percent to 71.5 million last year, half of it younger than 28 years.
“Unlike Western countries, our population grows rapidly ... This means we are faced with the problem of creating jobs for the newcomers, in addition to keeping the existing workforce employed,” Ures said in a recent article in the Dunya daily.
Yenturk highlighted another worrying aspect.
“In the European Union, the jobless rate among young people falls as education levels increase,” she said. “In Turkey, it is the opposite ... University graduates make up 18.5 percent of the jobless in the 20 to 24 age group.”
Many educated people are also known to work in unqualified jobs.
In a striking illustration of the problem, last month Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul reported a big increase in applications by university graduates for military service, which educated men usually take pains to avoid.
“Unable to find jobs, they seek economic security for at least a certain period,” he said, pointing to the salary of 1,700 Turkish lira (US$1,100) which university graduates are paid on the long-term draft.
Experts agree the problem requires drastic economic and social measures, but see little ground for optimism at a time when the economic data is dire.
Turkey’s economy, among the strongest in the region in recent years, shrank 6.2 percent in the last quarter of last year. Industrial output dropped 20.9 percent in March, with the automotive sector suffering a 53.1 percent slump.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is reportedly working on a package of measures aimed at creating jobs for at least 500,000 people.
Experts warn that failing to ease unemployment threatens grave social consequences, especially among young people, who, feeling left out and without prospects, could grow socially hostile.
“Social alienation stokes intolerance and leads people to blame those who are better-off for their problems, fanning an inclination to override and crush them,” Yenturk said.
FRUSTRATIONS: One in seven youths in China and Indonesia are unemployed, and many in the region are stuck in low-productivity jobs, the World Bank said Young people across Asia are struggling to find good jobs, with many stuck in low-productivity work that the World Bank said could strain social stability as frustrations fuel a global wave of youth-led protests. The bank highlighted a persistent gap between younger and more experienced workers across several Asian economies in a regional economic update released yesterday, noting that one in seven young people in China and Indonesia are unemployed. The share of people now vulnerable to falling into poverty is now larger than the middle class in most countries, it said. “The employment rate is generally high, but the young struggle to
STEPPING UP: Diminished US polar science presence mean opportunities for the UK and other countries, although China or Russia might also fill that gap, a researcher said The UK’s flagship polar research vessel is to head to Antarctica next week to help advance dozens of climate change-linked science projects, as Western nations spearhead studies there while the US withdraws. The RRS Sir David Attenborough, a state-of-the-art ship named after the renowned British naturalist, would aid research on everything from “hunting underwater tsunamis” to tracking glacier melt and whale populations. Operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the country’s polar research institute, the 15,000-tonne icebreaker — boasting a helipad, and various laboratories and gadgetry — is pivotal to the UK’s efforts to assess climate change’s impact there. “The saying goes
ENERGY SHIFT: A report by Ember suggests it is possible for the world to wean off polluting sources of power, such as coal and gas, even as demand for electricity surges Worldwide solar and wind power generation has outpaced electricity demand this year, and for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal, a new analysis said. Global solar generation grew by a record 31 percent in the first half of the year, while wind generation grew 7.7 percent, according to the report by the energy think tank Ember, which was released after midnight yesterday. Solar and wind generation combined grew by more than 400 terawatt hours, which was more than the increase in overall global demand during the same period, it said. The findings suggest it is
TICKING CLOCK: A path to a budget agreement was still possible, the president’s office said, as a debate on reversing an increase of the pension age carries on French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday was racing to find a new prime minister within a two-day deadline after the resignation of outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu tipped the country deeper into political crisis. The presidency late on Wednesday said that Macron would name a new prime minister within 48 hours, indicating that the appointment would come by this evening at the latest. Lecornu told French television in an interview that he expected a new prime minister to be named — rather than early legislative elections or Macron’s resignation — to resolve the crisis. The developments were the latest twists in three tumultuous
RSS