( Cihan ) - Turkey's unemployment rate retreated to 9.9 percent in 2006, the last date released from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TUIK) revealed. The corresponding figure for 2005 was 10.3 percent.
According to the latest "Household Labor Force Survey" conducted by the TUIK, the total number of employed persons was recorded at 22,330,000, i.e. 284,000 more than the figures compared to 2005.
The number of the unemployed persons dropped by 74,000, falling to 2,446,000 for the same period.
The labor force participation rate was 48 percent, i.e. 0.3% lower than 2005.
In 2006, non-agricultural employment declined to 12.6% from 13.6%.
The unemployment rate was recorded at 12.1 percent in rural areas, i.e. 0.6 % decrease and 6.5 percent in urban areas, i.e. 0.3% fall during the same period.