Unemployment Rate in Iran Reached 10.7% in Fall 2015

The Statistical Center of Iran reported on Tuesday, January 19, about the labor market situation in Iran in the fall of 2015, announcing the unemployment rate for the population aged 10 and older at 10.7%. According to the results of this report, the unemployment rate in the fall of this year decreased by 0.2 percentage points compared to the summer season, where the unemployment rate was reported at 10.9%. However, compared to the same season last year, there was an increase of 0.2 percentage points, as the unemployment rate in the fall of the previous year was 10.5%. The number of unemployed individuals in Iran this fall has exceeded 2 million and 646 thousand. The report also indicated that the economic participation rate for the population aged 10 and older was 38.1%, which represents a decrease of 0.8 percentage points compared to the summer of 2015. This slight decrease in the unemployment rate compared to the previous season may indicate that some job seekers have exited the labor market out of frustration. The economic participation rate in the fall of 2014 was estimated at 37.3%, showing an increase of 0.7 percentage points in the year-on-year comparison. Another section of the report shows that the unemployment rate among men aged 10 and older was 9%, while the unemployment rate for women during the same period reached about 19% (18.9%). The economic participation rate for men in this season was 63.2%, whereas for women it was only 13.2%. A noteworthy point in the report is the unemployment rate among the youth aged 15 to 24, which reached 25.4% this fall, down from 25.7% in the previous summer, indicating a decrease of 0.3 percentage points. The highest economic participation rate among Iranian provinces this fall was in Yazd, with a rate of 42.1%, while the lowest was in Sistan and Baluchestan at 30.3%. The highest unemployment rate was recorded in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province at 16.7%, while the lowest was in Markazi province at 5%. President Hassan Rouhani, during the conference "Implementation of the JCPOA, a New Chapter in Iran's Economy," identified "unemployment" alongside "recession and lack of growth" as the main problems facing Iran. He described the unemployment statistics, particularly among educated young women, as "shocking." The unprecedented recession in recent years is considered the main factor contributing to unemployment and the difficulty in reducing the unemployment rate in Iran. Meanwhile, the decline in global economic growth, especially in leading economies like China and the Eurozone crisis, has led the International Labour Organization (ILO) to announce in its annual report that the number of unemployed individuals worldwide will exceed 200 million for the first time by the end of 2017. According to this report, more than three million people worldwide will lose their jobs in the next two years. Reuters reported that the number of unemployed individuals worldwide was estimated at over 197 million in 2015. The ILO predicted that the global unemployment rate would decrease from 5.8% in 2014-2015 to 5.7% in 2017, but this decrease of 0.1 percentage points will ultimately increase the number of unemployed due to population growth and the influx of new job seekers into the labor market.