49-Month Increase Series in the Number of Wage Earners

According to the compilation made from the data of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), the total number of wage earners in the industrial, construction, and trade-service sectors was 15 million 601 thousand 552 people in June. While the number of wage earners increased by 3.4 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, the annual growth in the number of employees continued in June, recording consecutive growth for 49 months. The last decrease was observed in May 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. There were two consecutive declines in the number of wage earners during the pandemic, but with June 2020, a 49-month growth series on an annual basis began. When the number of wage earners was examined by sectors, it was observed that some categories reached their highest levels. Accordingly, in the 'trade and services' category, the number of employees reached the highest level since the data started to be collected in 2009. In June, the number of employees in this category was 8 million 842 thousand 545. The 'accommodation and food service' category also reached its highest number of employees on record since June 2024 with 1 million 369 thousand 895 people. In the 'administrative and support service activities' category, the highest number was reached in June with 1 million 477 thousand 803 employees. Prof. Dr. Selahattin Toğay, the Head of the Department of Economics at Hacı Bayram Veli University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, emphasized the importance of looking at the labor market in the context of growth, employment, and unemployment connection. Toğay stated, 'The fact that the number of wage earners is increasing is important in terms of the strength of the growth-employment connection. As the employment generating power of growth increases, the unemployment rate will decrease over time.' Toğay also pointed out that the population aged 15-64 is still increasing in Turkey and the volatility of women's labor force participation is high. He commented, 'The short-term increase in employment is extremely important, but our main issue is to change the sectoral composition of employment in favor of sectors with high foreign exchange production capacity and labor productivity.'