Deputy PM Babacan: We provided jobs to 4.6 million people

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan stated that 848 thousand additional jobs were generated in the second quarter of 2013, compared to the same period of the previous year and the total number of additional employment created since 2009 reached 4,635,000 persons. Babacan noted that despite the increase in the number of people joining the workforce in the second quarter of 2013, the rate of unemployment remained at around 8.8 percent. "The growth realized at 3.7 percent in the first half of the year is in line with the Medium Term Program," Babacan added. Touching on the GDP data announced yesterday, Babacan said, "Turkish economy has grown faster than expected due to the high base effect of gold exports in 2012 and gold imports in the first half of 2013." He added that the expected rise in exports, aside from gold exports, and the relative economic recovery in the European Union was expected to have a positive impact on the growth rate in the second half of the year.