Turkey's unemployment rate, measured on a moving three-month average, was 9.8 percent in the March to May period, the Turkish Statistics Institute said on Monday.

The figure was down from 9.9 percent during the same period last year. Unemployment in cities fell to 11.6 percent from 12.2 percent in 2006.

Rural unemployment, however, rose to 6.9 percent from the 2006 figure of 6.5 percent. Turkey is in the process of drastically reforming its agriculture sector in line with European Union standards.

Non-farm unemployment fell to 12.4 percent from 12.5 percent during the same period in the previous year.

Unemployment stood at 10.4 percent between February and April.

Stubborn unemployment, which is hard to measure because of a large unregistered economy, remains a leading issue ahead of the July 22 general election.

A fast-growing, young population is cited as a reason for the high jobless rate.

Unemployment among the young rose during the March-May period to 18.7 percent from 17.8 percent a year ago.

Reuters

Güncelleme Tarihi: 16 Temmuz 2007, 11:16