Based on the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) standards and measures, unemployment in Iran is at a critical point, the head of the Center for Strategic Information and Statistics at the Labor Ministry, Nematoolah Mir Fallah-Nasiri, has disclosed.
According to the semi-official news agency Mehr, unemployment reaches a critical point when the rate of unemployment among the youth of a country is twice more than its general unemployment.
“The rate of unemployment among youth (15 to 29 years old) was 25.9 percent at the end of the last Iranian year (beginning 21 March 2016) while the general rate of unemployment for the same period was 12.4 percent,” said Mir Fallah.
the unemployment at the end of last year was 12.4 percent, which shows a 1.4 riseNematollah Mir Fallah-Nasiri, head of the Center for Strategic Information and Statistics at Iran's Labor Ministry
Referring to the fact that many Iranian youths have university degrees, he stressed, “The younger generation’s expectations are much higher than before, and youth are reluctant to accept jobs that are counted as inferior to their higher education.”
Mir Fallah pointed out, “Another challenge for Iran’s job market is the incompatibility between youth’s job skills and what the employers demand.”
He highlighted the problem of long-term unemployment, which takes more than a year and adds to the rate of unemployment in the country.
Out of 3,203,398 unemployed persons, at the end of the last Iranian year, nearly 1 million were in long-term unemployment, Mir Fallah maintained.
He also disclosed that the unemployment at the end of last year was 12.4 percent, which shows a 1.4 rise.
According to Iran’s Statistics Center, unemployment among women at the end of the last Iranian year was 2.7 percent and twice as much as men’s.