According to the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI), the unemployment rate for people aged 15 and above fell to 8.9 percent this fall (September 23-December 21, 2021), recording the lowest rate in 25 years.
Accordingly, 63.1 million of the country’s population are in the age group of 15 years and older, 40.9 percent of whom, equal to 25.8 million people, have been economically active, i.e. they are in the group of employed or unemployed.
An examination of the changes in the economic participation rate shows a 0.5 percent decline compared to the same period last year.
The SCI said the figure was the lowest on record for Iran’s labor market since 1996 although it insisted that a lower jobless rate did not necessarily mean that Iran had created more jobs over the past year.
“This declining trend does not mean more employment but it is due to the spread of the coronavirus disease which has caused many young adults to leave the labor market after failing to find a proper job,” and said the report.
“We are witnessing a reduction in active population and as a result, the jobless rate has been declining,” it added.
SCI calculations showed that Iran’s economically inactive population of above 15-year-olds had increased to reach over 37.3 million people. Jobs had increased by 122,000 over the quarter to late December to a total of 23.535 million.
The jobless rate was 23.6 percent among the youth between 15 and 23 years old, down 0.1 percent against the similar quarter last year, said the SCI.
The Iranian services sector was responsible for 49.9 percent of the jobs in the country over the quarter, followed by manufacturing and agriculture with 34.7 percent and 15.4 percent, respectively.
Some 20 out of 31 Iranian provinces had reported single-digit jobless rates over the three months ended in late December, including Khorasan Razavi in the northeast where unemployment was lowest in the country at 5.3 percent.
The highest jobless rate of 15.3 percent was recorded in Hormozgan Province on the Persian Gulf coast.