TEHRAN: Iran’s unemployment rate in the current fiscal year (March 2016-17) stood at 12.4%, registering a 1.4% rise compared with the last year, the latest report by the Statistical Center of Iran said. The new data show 3.2 million Iranians were unemployed this year. It also shows 10.5% of men (or 2.19 million) and 20.7% of women (or 1.01 million) of ages 10 and above were jobless during the period. According to SCI, the unemployment rate was 13.7% for urban areas and 8.9% for rural areas. Joblessness was higher among women compared to men and among those living in urban areas. The youth unemployment rate, i.e. the proportion of the population between the ages of 15 and 29, stood at 25.9% this year, posting a 2.6% rise compared with last year.
SCI has put this year’s labor force participation rate—the proportion of the population of ages 10 years and above that is economically active either employed or looking for work—at 39.4% or 25.79 million people, registering a 1.2% rise compared with last year. Men’s and women’s economic participation rates were 64.1% and 14.9% respectively. The rate was 38.9% for urban areas and 41% for rural areas. Part-time employees constitute 10.3% of the country’s employed population. Ardabil and Sistan-Baluchestan provinces had the highest and lowest labor force participation rates of 43.8% and 31.1% respectively, whereas Tehran registered a 40.2% participation rate in the period.
Employment is defined as persons of working age engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit, whether at work during the reference period or not at work due to a temporary absence from a job, or to working-time arrangement. The services sector employed 50.1% of the Iranian population, whereas industrial and agricultural sectors provided 31.9% and 18% of the population with jobs respectively. The services sector consists of wholesale and retail trade; restaurants and hotels; transport, storage and communications; financing, insurance, real estate and business services; as well as community, social, education, health and personal services. Four provinces, namely Markazi Province (7.3%), Semnan (8.6%), Hamedan (9.5%) and Zanjan (9.7%), registered single-digit unemployment rates this year. Kermanshah Province filed the highest unemployment rate of 22% among all Iranian provinces. Tehran Province, wherein lies the capital city, registered an 11.6% unemployment rate, SCI report says.
