Financial Tribune- Iran�s unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year (Dec. 22, 2017-March 20) stood at 12.1%, registering a 0.4% drop compared with the same period of the year before and a 0.2% increase compared with Q3, the latest report by the Statistical Center of Iran showed.

Youth unemployment rate, i.e. the proportion of population between the ages of 15 and 29, stood at 25.2% in winter, posting a 0.3% decrease year-on-year and a 0.2% rise compared with autumn.

SCI has put Q4 labor force participation rate�the proportion of the population of ages 10 years and above that is economically active either employed or looking for work�at 39.7%, which indicates a 0.8% YOY rise and a 0.4% decrease compared with the third quarter.

Underemployment, a condition wherein the workforce is employed for less than 44 hours of service per week, constitutes 11.5% of the country�s employed population, whereas 36.4% of the employees worked 49 hours or more per week.

The services sector employed 52.1% of the Iranian employed population, whereas industrial and agricultural sectors provided jobs for 32.6% and 15.3% of the population respectively.

The former includes wholesale and retail trade; restaurants and hotels; transport, storage and communications; financing, insurance, real estate and business services; as well as community, social, education, health and personal services.

SCI is yet to release a more comprehensive report detailing the state of unemployment among men and women for each province, as well as urban and rural unemployment.

The center�s previous report showed 3.14 million Iranians were unemployed in autumn�10.1% of men (or 2.14 million) and 19.1% of women (or 999,145) of ages 10 and above were jobless during the third quarter.

The unemployment rate was 13.2% for urban areas and 8.1% for rural areas. Men�s and women�s economic participation rates were 64.1% and 15.9% respectively. The rate was 39.5% for urban areas and 42.1% for rural areas.

Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Province filed the highest unemployment rate of 21.1% and Hormozgan the lowest unemployment rate of 7.5% among all Iranian provinces.

Tehran Province, wherein lies the capital city, registered an 11.2% unemployment rate in autumn.

According to the head of the Statistical Center of Iran, Omid Ali Parsa, 818,000 new jobs were created in Iran during the nine months to Dec. 21, 2017, indicating a 3.6% rise compared with last year�s similar period.

�The number of unemployed people grew by 16,000 during the nine-month period to reach 3.2 million out of 25.8 million economically active population in the country,� he was quoted as saying by IRNA.

According to Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the head of Iran�s Management and Planning Organization and government spokesman, the government is planning to create 1.33 million jobs in the current fiscal year (March 2018-19), of which 846,000 will be offered to university graduates.

Employment is defined as persons of working age engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit, whether at work during the reference period or not at work due to a temporary absence from a job, or to working-time arrangement.