Iran's Parliamentary Research Center Calls Unemployment Statistics 'Worrisome and Crisis-Inducing'

The Iranian Parliament's Research Center, in a report presenting results from the past three and a half years and recalling the protests of December 2017, described unemployment statistics as 'worrisome and crisis-inducing.' The report noted that the unemployment rates among youth, women, and educated individuals are 'a warning that highlights the necessity for a change in the direction of Iran's economy.' The center stated that from 2014 to 2017, over two million people were added to the country's approximately 21 million employed population, which is 'a very significant event.' However, during this period, more than three million people joined the job-seeking population, a 'considerable' figure compared to the previous decade. According to these statistics, 1.4 million of the unemployed are individuals born in the 1980s, aged between 27 and 36, and 'some of them may not succeed in finding a job.' The Iranian Statistical Center reported the unemployment rate for this spring at 12.1%, indicating a 0.5% decrease compared to the previous spring. The government agency stated that the number of unemployed individuals has decreased by 44,958 to 3,322,000. However, the Parliamentary Research Center previously reported the number of unemployed individuals to be between five to seven million and warned that this figure could reach 11 million by 2021. The new report indicates that individuals born in the 1990s and women with university degrees have played a 'significant role' in increasing the job-seeking population. The center noted that the unemployment rate for educated individuals has deteriorated compared to previous years, with the unemployment rate for educated women aged 15 to 29 in Kurdistan, Kerman, Ardabil, and Kermanshah provinces exceeding 84%, 79%, 78%, and 76%, respectively. The report states that in the three and a half years leading to last winter, 40% of the newly added unemployed were women. Saeed Namaki, Deputy for Social Development at Iran's Management and Planning Organization, announced that 42% of the unemployed in the country are university graduates. The warning from the Parliamentary Research Center about unemployment statistics comes as some officials of the Islamic Republic have expressed concern about the negative impacts of U.S. sanctions on Iran's economy. Ali Rabiei, Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare in Hassan Rouhani's government, had predicted before his impeachment and dismissal that one million jobs in Iran would be lost due to the new U.S. sanctions. The method of calculating the unemployment rate in Iran has always been a subject of dispute and has undergone multiple definitions. While officials from various Iranian governments have consistently spoken of a decrease in the unemployment rate, some economists believe that the actual unemployment rate is higher than what the Iranian Statistical Center reports. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Iran is announced based on the International Labor Organization's standards, which define all individuals aged 10 and older who have worked at least one hour as employed.