Turkey's unemployment rate rises to 11.7 percent in March

The unemployment rate in Turkey for the month of March grew by 1.6 percent, compared to the same period last year, and reached 11.7 percent, Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced Thursday.

When compared to the previous month, however, the unemployment rate fell by 0.9 percentage points.

Compared to March 2016, the number of unemployed individuals, aged 15 years and over, also increased by 619,000 to reach 3.6 million in March 2017.

During the same period, the non-agricultural unemployment rate stood at 13.7 percent with a 1.8 percent increase.

Meanwhile, youth unemployment rate, which includes the age group between 15 and 24, was at 21.4 percent with a 4.4 percentage point increase. The rate of unemployment among people aged 15 to 64 grew by 1.7 percentage point and reached 12 percent.