Ankara- The unemployment rate in Turkey fell 0.9 percentage points between February and April to reach 11.7 percent after it had marked its highest rate in seven years, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) revealed Thursday.

But the unemployment rate rose 1.6 percentage points in March compared to the same month of last year.

The non-agricultural unemployment rate stood in March at 13.7 percent with a 1.8 percentage point increase.

During the same period, the number of the unemployed in the country aged 15 and over increased to 3.6 million in March 2017, a rise of 619,000 from March 2016.

Meanwhile, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci has said that trade between his country and African states has reached 20 billion dollars a year, adding Turkish investments worth 10 billion dollars have been made in Africa.

Zeybekci and Burundi’s Minister of External Relations and International Cooperation Alain Aime Nyamitwe signed the Promotion and Protection of Investments Agreement between the two countries in Ankara on Wednesday.

According to Zeybekci, Turkey has 39 embassies in the African continent, in addition to trade consultations with 26 African countries.

The minister said that the agreement signed with Burundi is an important step in increasing investment and improving trade relations between the two countries.

He added that Turkish investment in Burundi would increase as soon as the agreement enters into force.