Minister of Labor: Even with the creation of one million jobs per year, the unemployment rate will not change

On Sunday, the Iranian Parliament held a closed session to discuss unemployment, during which the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare and the Research Center of the Parliament announced that even if one million jobs are created each year, the unemployment rate will not change by the year 1400 (2021). According to Mehr News Agency, citing an unnamed representative, the Minister of Labor reported that the number of unemployed individuals in the country is three million and 200 thousand. Ali Rabiei also stated in this session that even if one million jobs are created annually, the unemployment rate will not decrease by 1400. President Hassan Rouhani had previously mentioned that 800,000 graduates enter the job market each year, and even if 700,000 jobs are created annually, an additional 500,000 people would still be added to the unemployed. Rouhani had warned earlier that in 1395 (2016), 1.2 million job seekers entered the job market, but the government could not accommodate this number. The Statistical Center of Iran announced that the unemployment rate reached 12.3% in the fall of 1395, a decrease of 0.4% compared to the summer. Officials from Rouhani's government also stated that the previous administration created only 14,000 jobs. The Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare emphasized that according to a report from the Statistical Center, in the previous administration, at best, only 75,000 job opportunities were created annually. However, officials from Ahmadinejad's government had previously claimed that eight million jobs were created during his presidency. Meanwhile, Akbar Ranjbarzadeh, a member of the Parliamentary Board, stated that the unemployment figures announced by the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare and the Research Center differ, with the Minister citing three million and 200 thousand unemployed, while the Research Center reported between six million and 500 thousand to seven million unemployed. According to Ranjbarzadeh, the Research Center's report indicates that if one million jobs are created annually, the current unemployment rate will persist until 1400. The Research Center had also warned in the fall of 1395 about the increase in unemployment and its consequences, stating that by 1400, there would be over four million unemployed in the country.