Azerbaijan, Baku, June 7/Trend M. Moezzi
New figures showing a 5-percent loss of industrial jobs and the elimination of up to 650,000 jobs in the agricultural sector sharply contradict the Iranian government's claims that it created 3.2 million jobs from 2010 to 2011.
The government insists it created 1.6 million jobs in 2010 and the same number in 2011 and says it can back up its claims with a database, Mehr news agency reports.
But the government's claims and figures are vague, Hamid Haj Esmaili, labor activist who represents workers on the Employee, Employer Labor Dispute Settlement Board, says. Some of the data from the government includes half-finished projects or projects that predict how many jobs they can produce in their financing applications. Some data is repeated in several information banks.
More than 45 percent of the jobs created in Iran have been in the service sector versus agriculture or industry. And, even those who defend the government's figures say less than one-third of the jobs created provide workers with insurance.
While uncontrolled imports play a role in the loss of between 400 to 650,000 agricultural jobs, they aren't the only culprit, Haj Esmaili said.