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Turkey Unemployment Rises

Turkey Unemployment Rises
Turkey Unemployment Rises

The Turkish statistics agency has reported a rise in unemployment in the country. It pointed out that joblessness among young people was of particular concern, with tourism taking a major hit after terror threats.

Turkey’s unemployment rate rose to 10.7% in July, the country’s statistics office, Turkstat, reported Monday, DW said.

The figure was 0.9% higher than in the same month a year earlier, while the rate for youth unemployment surged by 1.5% to 19.8% in July.

Analysts had warned that in dealing with the aftermath of a failed putsch in July, the government risked bruising the nation’s previously robust growth as a result of stalled reforms and rule of law concerns.

Renaissance Capital’s Michael Harris told the AFP news agency that “long term, any deterioration in the rule of law has an impact on the willingness to invest.”

Turkey posted a healthy 4% GDP expansion in 2015. But since then there’s been a slew of indications the economy is starting to hurt, with July industrial production plummeting and second-quarter growth slowing to 3.1%, down from 4.7% in the first three months of the year.

In summer, ratings agencies Moody’s and S&P downgraded Turkey’s bonds to junk status on doubts over the nation’s ability to pay back debt.

Turkey had not been happy with the decision, insisting that the country had displayed fiscal discipline, kept the debt-to-GDP ratio in check and launched a key pension reform.

Turkey has cut its growth forecast to 3.2% from 4.5%. Lower tourism numbers, regional conflict and negative global forces added to post-coup investor unease hit one of the world’s fastest growing economies.

 

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