Turkey: Unemployment rises to 13 pct in January

ANKARA (AA) - The unemployment rate rose by 1.9 percentage points in January compared to the same month last year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) on Monday.

The number of jobless people in the country aged 15 years old and over went up to nearly 4 million in January 2017, an increase of 695,000 from January 2016, when the unemployment rate stood at 13 percent, the statement said.

The rate also saw a 0.3 percentage point rise from December 2016, according to the report.

January's employment rate increased 0.2 percent from the same period last year, with the country adding 397,000 jobs.

The labor force participation rate was also up by 0.8 percentage points year-on-year, going up to 51.5 percent.

The number of women participating in the workforce increased by 1 percentage point from the previous year to 32 percent.