Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.11
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Four western provinces of Kordestan, Kermanshah, Lorestan, and Kohkilouyeh-Boyerahmad have the highest unemployment rates in the country, Mehr News Agency reported on January 11.
Unemployment rates in the four provinces are currently 16.1 percent, 15.9 percent, 18.9 percent, and 14.7 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, Gilan province in north and Sistan-Baluchestan in southeast have high jobless rates of 16.4 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively.
The six mentioned provinces hold a great share in a total 2.4 million jobless in the country.
On the other hand, Golestan province in north, Kerman province in southeast, and Hormozgan province in south have the least jobless rates, with 4 percent, 5.4 percent, and 5.8 percent jobless rates, respectively.
Iran's labor minister Ali Rabi'ee has said that over 2 million foreigners are working in Iran.
Afghan, Iraqi, and Pakistani nationals constitute the highest numbers of foreign workers in Iran.
Most of the foreign workers are residing in Tehran, Khorasan, Razavi, and Isfahan provinces.
Rabi'ee said that the foreign workers in Iran are just busy with uncomplicated and unprofessional jobs, while unemployment crisis in Iran is related to university graduates.
The minister said that the foreign workers have even occupied many jobs in villages, as Iranian workers are disinclined to do low-paid jobs.
On October 25, the head of Statistical Centre of Iran said that Iran's unemployment has turned into a crisis.
"The country's youth unemployment rate is currently around 26 per cent," Mehr News Agency quoted Adel Azar as saying.
"The country's total unemployment rate is 12.2 per cent," he added.