ANKARA - In Turkey, there are 2.37 million unemployed persons and the unemployment rate is 9.9 percent according to 2002 data. The number of unemployed persons increased by 1.07 million in the last two years.
Speaking in the parliamentary state economic enterprises commission, Turkish Employment Agency's Director General Necdet Kenar said that the number of the employed persons in 2002 decreased by 184,000 when compared to the year 2001 and the number of unemployed persons increased by 466,000 in 2002.
The rate of employment is generally 46.4 percent in Turkey. This rate is 75 percent in the U.S., and 64 percent on average in EU countries. Agricultural sector comes the second with 36.5 percent in employment after service sector.
Child labour decreased by 17.2 percent in 2002 when compared to 2001. The number of working children between the ages of 12-17 is 1.24 millions.
A total of 327,417 persons applied to Turkey Employment Agnecy in 2001 and 213,998 of them found jobs.