ANKARA, Dec 9 (AFP) - The unemployment rate in EU-hopeful Turkey is projected at 9.5 percent in the third quarter this year, up from 9.4 percent in the same period in 2003, the state statistics institute said Thursday.
The number of jobless amounted to 2,390 million in the third quarter, compared with 2.328 million a year earlier, the institute said.
The unemployment rate stood at 12.4 percent of the available workforce in the first quarter of 2004, and 9.5 percent in the second.
The rate was 10.5 percent in 2003.
The institute compiles the data via regional household surveys based on International Labour Organisation standards, and uses the results to make a nationwide projection based on the 2000 census results.
It is the only available unemployment data in Turkey, but observers warn that the figures do not reflect the real picture when it comes to undeclared or hidden unemployment where educated, qualified people are often engaged in menial, unqualified jobs.
Turkey is emerging from its worst recession since World War II, brought on by two severe financial crises in 2001 that sent the country scrambling for a 16-billion-dollar stand-by deal with the International Monetary Fund.
The program ends in February 2005 and Turkish officials are currently engaged in talks with the IMF for a new three-year stand-by deal.
European Union leaders will decide next Thursday whether to launch entry talks with Turkey, following the country's four-decade-long march towards EU membership.
12/09/2004 11:11 GMT - AFP