Page 12 - TURKRptNov20

4.4 ​Labour and income
4.4.1​ Labour market, unemployment dynamics
The number of those employed ​declined​by 1.254mn people year-on-year in June-August.
The number of unemployed when including people covered by the layoff ban and those placed on short weeks, was 9.8mn, ​according​to labour union DISK.
Turkey has extended its ban on employers laying off workers by two months, according to a presidential decree ​published​in the Official Gazette on October 26. The ban was set to expire on November 17.
Unde layoff ban, people are paid about half of the net minimum wage, they can not resign and they can not receive compensation payment rights due to losing their jobs.
Some 16mn of Turkey’s 84mn citizens are poor and 18mn live on the verge of slipping into poverty, according to a research ​conducted​by Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
Given those figures, some 34mn citizens were vulnerable to the threat of starvation, it said.
The HDP added that while the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) officially puts the number of unemployed people at 4.1mn, the real number is around 17mn.
4.4.2​ Income dynamics
4.4.3​ Retail sector dynamics
Payments with credit and debit cards i​ncreased​by 25% y/y to stand at Turkish lira (TRY) 106bn (around $14bn) in September. The growth figure is nominal and it should be adjusted with real inflation to reach real contraction.
12​ TURKEY Country Report​ November 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com