23,359 People Benefit from Unemployment Insurance Only one out of 100 unemployed receives benefits.

ANKARA- In October 2011, the number of unemployed people who received unemployment insurance benefits from the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) was 23,359, whereas the total number of unemployed was 2,454,000. Therefore, only one percent of the unemployed people were able to benefit from the insurance.

The third issue of the TEPAV Employment Monitoring Bulletin was published. This latest issue addressed unemployment insurance figures among others.

As the Bulletin suggests, the number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries has increased annually by 7 percent (1,555 people). The number of beneficiaries in October 2008, 2009 and 2010 were 21,866, 26,466, and 21,804, respectively. The highest number was reached in January 2009, with 54,897 people.

One-third of the beneficiaries (7,702 people) live in Istanbul. The number of beneficiaries from Ankara and Izmir are 1,671 and 1,807, respectively.

The ten cities where the increase in the number of beneficiaries was highest were Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Kocaeli, Manisa, Van, Mersin, Antalya, Sakarya and Gaziantep, in descending order.

Hit by the earthquake, Van takes sixth place …

Van, which was hit by a major earthquake in October 2011, ranked sixth among cities where the number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries increased the most. On the other hand, as of October 2011, the number of beneficiaries in the city was 123. During September and October 2011, 68 and 135 applications were received for unemployment insurance.

Insured employment increases by 10 percent

According to TEPAV’s report, insured employment increased by 1,512 people and reached 16,680,000 in October 2011, corresponding to a 10 percent annual increase. In October 2011, the three cities with the highest levels of insured employment were Istanbul with 3,244,000 people, Ankara with 931,000, and Izmir with 716,000. The cities with the lowest level of insured employment were Ardahan with 5,851 people, Bayburt with 6,064 people and Tunceli with 7,114 people.

Gaziantep takes the lead in employment growth

The highest increase in the number of insured workers was observed in Gaziantep with 18.4 percent. Over the last twelve months, the number of insured workers in the city increased by 2,397, to 190,244. The city was followed by Mersin with a 17.5 percent increase. The number of people with insured employment increased by 2,600 to 182,445. Samsun ranked third with 16.4 percent. In Samsun, the number of insured workers increased by 2,052 to 123,941.

10 Cities with the highest increase in the number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries (October, 2011 – 2010)

Source: İŞKUR, TEPAV