Nine provinces of Iran registered double-digit unemployment for people of ages 15 and above in the first quarter of the current Iranian year (March 20-June 21), new data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show.
They include Kurdestan with 10.2%, Yazd and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari each with 10.6%, Isfahan with 12.3%, Sistan-Baluchestan and Lorestan each with 12.8%, Khuzestan with 14.1%, Hormozgan with 15.3% and Kermanshah with 15.4%.
Hamedan Province saw the lowest unemployment rate of 6.5% among all Iranian provinces in Q1 while Kermanshah registered the highest unemployment rate of 15.4%.
Iran’s overall unemployment rate, the proportion of the jobless population of ages 15 and above, stood at 9.2% in Q1, indicating a 0.4% year-on-year increase.
According to SCI, a total of 2.4 million Iranians were unemployed in Q1. Men’s unemployment stood at 7.8% while the rate for women hovered around 16.1%.
Over 1.69 million men and 708,085 women of ages 15 and above were jobless in Q1.
The unemployment rate was 10.1% for urban areas (1.99 million people) and 6.4% for rural areas (405,180 people).
The center put the Q1 labor force participation rate — the proportion of the population of ages 15 and above that is economically active either employed or looking for a job — at 40.9% or 2.6 million people, registering a 0.5% decrease year-on-year.
Men’s and women’s economic participation rates were 68% and 13.8% respectively in the same period.
A total of 21.59 million men and 4.39 million women of ages 15 and above were economically active in Q1, i.e., they were either employed or looking for a job.
Zanjan Province registered the highest labor force participation rate (47.8%) and Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad had the lowest rate (35.7%). Tehran registered a 40.9% participation rate in Q1.
Zanjan also registered the highest employment rate of 45.2% while Ilam filed the lowest rate of 30.6% among Iran’s 31 provinces.
Tehran’s employment rate stood at 37.7%.
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.
Iran’s overall employment rate was 37.7% (23.58 million) in Q1, down 0.6% compared with the same quarter of the last Iranian year. Employment rates for men and women were 63.9% and 11.6%, respectively, which constituted 19.9 million men and 36.81 million women in Q1.
Employment rate was 36.1% (17.68 million people) in urban areas and 40.7% (5.9 million) in rural areas.
The share of employment of university graduates stood at 26.6% of the total employed population, wherein male and female graduate employment rates were 22.9% and 46.8%, respectively. In urban and rural areas, graduate employment rates stood at 32.5% and 8.9% of the total number of job-holders, respectively.
Q1 statistics show that 40.3% of the country’s labor force worked more than 49 hours per week, indicating a 1.9% increase over the same period of last year.
