Markazi Province filed the lowest unemployment rate of 6.8% among all Iranian provinces in the fourth quarter of last Iranian year (Dec. 21, 2020-March 20) while Kurdestan registered the highest unemployment rate of 18.8%.
Tehran Province, wherein lies the capital city, registered a 7% unemployment rate, the Statistical Center of Iran reported.
Eighteen provinces, namely Markazi Province (6.8%), East Azabaijan (7%), Tehran (7%), Khorasan Razavi (7%), Fars (7.4%), Gilan (8.1%), South Khorasan (8.3%), Semnan (8.5%), Mazandaran (8.6%), Ardabil (8.7%), Zanjan (8.8%), Golestan (9%), Hamedan (9%), Ilam (9.1%), Bushehr (9.3%), Qazvin (9.6%), Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province (9.7%) and Isfahan (9.8%), registered single-digit unemployment rates for people of ages 15 and above in Q4.
Yazd registered the highest labor force participation rate (49.5%) and Sistan-Baluchestan Province had the lowest labor force participation rate (33.5%), whereas Tehran registered a 40.1% participation rate in Q4.
Ardabil registered the highest employment rate of 42.9% while Sistan-Baluchestan filed the lowest employment rate of 30.1% among all Iranian provinces. Tehran’s employment rate stood at 37.3%.
Iran’s unemployment rate, the proportion of jobless population of ages 15 and above, stood at 9.7% in Q4, indicating a 0.9% decline compared with the same period of the year before.
A total of 2,477,850 Iranians were unemployed in Q4. Men’s unemployment stood at 8.4% while the rate for women hovered around 16.5%. Over 1.79 million men and 685,934 women of ages 15 and above were jobless in Q4.
The unemployment rate was 10.2% for urban areas (1.96 million people) and 8% for rural areas (508,580 people).
SCI put Q4 labor force participation rate—the proportion of the population of ages 15 and above that is economically active either employed or looking for job—at 40.9% or 25.61 million people, registering a 1.5% decrease year-on-year.
Men’s and women’s economic participation rates were 68.5% and 13.3% respectively in the same period.
SCI reports that 21.44 million men and 4.16 million women of ages 15 and above were economically active in Q4, i.e., they were either employed or looking for a job.
The center provides two figures for the youth unemployment rate: the proportion of the population between 15 and 24 years and those between 18 and 35 years.
The youth unemployment rate of those between 15 and 24 years stood at 23.6% in Q4, posting a 2.1% decrease while the unemployment rate of those between 18 and 35 years stood at 16.8%, posting a decline of 1% YOY.
Pandemic Effect
The decline in unemployment comes as labor force participation has shrunk in line with loss of jobs due to coronavirus pandemic.
The economically active population, comprising both employed and unemployed persons, reduced by 1.62 million in the second quarter of the current fiscal year (June 21-Sept. 21), indicating a 3.1% decline in labor force participation rate year-on-year, according to a report by Majlis Research Center, the research arm of the Iranian Parliament.
According to this report, 22.3% of the unemployed and 8.9% of employed persons were added to the population of economically inactive in Q2. Had they joined the population of people looking for a job, the unemployment rate of the period under review would have been 18.5% rather than the official 9.5% announced by the Statistical Center of Iran.
The MRC report continues: “Of the more than 1.62 million people of the active population that dropped out of the labor market in Q2, 1.01 million were women and 615,651 were men. The second quarter’s economic participation rate fell 3.1% year-on-year to reach 41.8%. In fact, women experienced the highest job losses in Q2. Out of 1.2 million people who lost their jobs in Q2, 460,000 were men and 750,000 were women. Men and women’s participation rates dropped by 2.7% and 3.5% to hit 69.5% and 14.1%, respectively.”
The services sector accounted for the biggest share of the unemployed: Out of 1.2 million persons who lost their jobs in Q2, 817,000 were from the services sector. Out of 22 groups of economic activities, only three groups, namely “financial and insurance activities”, “construction” and “administrative activities and support services”, registered growth in employed population. The sharpest declines were registered by three groups of “accommodation and food services”, “information and communications” and “art, leisure and entertainment”.
