ANKARA - Turkey was ranked fourth among Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries which have the highest rates of unemployment.
The report which was prepared by Moral Rights Workers Union (Hak-Is) said that unemployment was one of most important problems of countries, and noted that rate of unemployment was 7.3 percent in OECD countries and 8.8 percent in European Union (EU) countries as of August 2003.
The report said that the rate of unemployment was 10 percent in Turkey in the same period.
The report said that rate of unemployment was 9.2 percent in European countries in 1999, 7.8 percent in 2000, 7.4 percent in 2001 and 7.7 percent in 2002. Rate of unemployment was 6.6 percent in Turkey in 2000, 8.5 percent in 2001, 10.6 percent in 2002 and the figure became 10 percent in Turkey as of August 2003.
According to the report of Hak-Is, rates of unemployment in Turkey and OECD countries are as follows:
| Country | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Turkey | 6.6 | 8.5 | 10.6 | 10 |
| Australia | 6.3 | 6.7 | 6.3 | 6.1 |
| Austria | 3.7 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.4 |
| Belgium | 6.9 | 6.7 | 7.3 | 8 |
| Britain | 5.4 | 5 | 5.1 | 5 |
| Canada | 6.8 | 7.2 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| Denmark | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 5.3 |
| France | 9.3 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 9.3 |
| Germany | 7.8 | 7.8 | 8.6 | 9.4 |
| Italy | 10.4 | 9.4 | 9 | 8.6 |
| Japan | 4.7 | 5 | 5.4 | 5.3 |
| Netherlands | 2.8 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 4.1 |
| Spain | 11.3 | 10.6 | 11.3 | 11.4 |
| Sweden | 5.6 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 5.4 |
| Switzerland | 2.7 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| USA | 4 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 6.4 |
| Poland | 16.4 | 18.5 | 19.9 | 20 |
| Slovakia | 18.7 | 19.4 | 18.6 | 16 |
| EU | 8.5 | 8 | 8.4 | 8.8 |
(EÖ-UK) 04.01.2004