Financial Tribune - Iran’s unemployment rate, the proportion of jobless population of ages 15 and above, stood at 10.6% in the fourth quarter of the current Iranian year (Dec. 22, 2019-March 19), indicating a 1.7% decline compared with the same period of last year.

These numbers were calculated between Feb. 1-14, before the outbreak of coronavirus, when the labor market was in better shape, the latest report by the Statistical Center of Iran reads.

A total of 2,788,587 Iranians were unemployed in Q4. Men’s unemployment stood at 9.2% while the rate for women hovered around 17.2%. Over 1.97 million men and 812,902 women of ages 15 and above were jobless in Q4.

The unemployment rate was 11.4% for urban areas (2.23 million people) and 8.5% for rural areas (554,330 people).