Baku, Azerbaijan, July 1
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran 's jobless rate fell to 10.8 percent in spring, which is corresponding to the first quarter of the current Iranian fiscal year, according to the Statistical Center of Iran.
The jobless rate was 11.5 percent in winter, Iran 's IRNA news agency reported July 2.
The jobless rate among men and women was 9 percent and 19.2 percent, respectively, in spring. Meanwhile, the jobless rate among youth was 25 percent.
According to the report, there were 2.647 million people unemployed in the country, 1.822 million of them were men.
The Economy and Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia told Trend Jan. 29 that he predicted an economic growth of 3 to 4 percent for Iran in 2015. The figure announced by the Iranian minister is at least 5 times more than the optimistic estimations released by international bodies.
On June 7, Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare Ali Rabiei said some 40 percent of Iranian university graduates were jobless.
"In order to attain a single-digit inflation rate, some 800,000-900,000 jobs should be created," he said.
Iran created 400,000 jobs in its production and industry sectors in the past fiscal year, ended on March 20, after subtracting 200,000 workers who were laid off.
Edited by CN