ISTANBUL - Turkey's unemployment rate dipped to 12.7% in August-October from the previous period and participation held steady, official data showed on Thursday, reflecting a burst of economic activity between the first and second coronavirus waves.

The jobless rate stood at 13.2% a month earlier and was 13.8% a year earlier.

Turkey's economy rebounded sharply from a 10% contraction in the second quarter, though the pandemic still weighs on workers who have been kept on payrolls by a ban on layoffs. Coronavirus cases and deaths have hit record levels in recent weeks.

Total employment in the latest period was 27.7 million, down about 733,000 from a year ago, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed.

(Reporting by Berna Suleymanoglu and Oben Mumcuoglu; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Dominic Evans) ((jonathan.spicer@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: jonathan.spicer.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net @jonathanspicer))