Türkiye's unemployment rate fell to 9.7% in the second quarter of this year, down to 0.3% compared to the quarter before, the country's statistical authority said Thursday.

The number of unemployed individuals in this period fell to 3.4 million, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

The number of unemployed individuals aged 15 and above, in the April-June period, decreased by 73,000 when compared to the quarter earlier, TurkStat added.

In the same period, the youth unemployment rate for the 15-24 age group was 18.3%, down by 1.2 percentage points. The unemployment rate in this age group was estimated at 15.1% for men and 24.1% for women.

As of the second quarter of this year, the survey could be applied throughout the country, including the provinces impacted by the pair of early February earthquakes, and therefore standard measurement was carried out.

The number of those employed in the same period increased by 151,000 and reached 31.5 million, the data revealed.