The state-run Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper has criticized the “statistic manipulation” employed by Iran’s regime in its economic reports, stating that the inaccurate data presented by the government regarding the reduction in unemployment will not change anything.
The newspaper emphasizes that the claimed reduction in the unemployment rate has had no impact on the country’s economic growth and is not tangible in people’s lives.
This report refers to the latest report from the Employment Assistant of the Minister of Labor, which announced a 41.3 percent labor force participation rate in autumn 2023 and an 8.1 percent overall unemployment rate in 2023.
Donya-e-Eqtesad writes that statistically and based on the formula provided, the unemployment rate can decrease for two reasons: if individuals searching for jobs eventually find employment or if individuals become discouraged from job searching and withdraw from the process.
In this context, the report mentions “official statistics” published by the government’s Statistical Center and emphasizes that “educated individuals who have been seeking suitable employment corresponding to their qualifications or at least somewhat related to them to the extent that they have officially ceased their job search” are considered by the government as exiting the actively seeking employment population, which affects the employment statistics.
The newspaper also addresses the crisis of unemployment among educated women, stating that more than 40 percent of the unemployed population in the country hold university degrees. Currently, only about 11 percent of the labor force participation rate consists of women, meaning approximately 89 percent of Iranian women over the age of 15 are unemployed.
The report stresses how, in the current economic conditions witnessing such figures in the labor market, it is implausible for the unemployment rate to have perceptibly decreased.
In this regard, the Tasnim News Agency, linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), announced on April 2 in a report that the share of graduates in unemployment in winter 2024 was 39 percent and stated that the examination of the unemployment rate among the population aged 15 and over with higher education showed that 11.6 percent of the actively seeking graduate population were unemployed.
Tasnim also emphasized that this rate was higher among women compared to men and in rural areas compared to urban areas.
Tasnim stressed that the unemployment of university graduates has reached a deadlock, and even those with doctoral degrees have been forced to take jobs unrelated to their qualifications to escape unemployment.
Additionally, the regime’s Tajarat News website wrote on January 13 that reports from the Technical and Vocational Organization indicate that 40 percent of skill-seekers are university graduates.
Eghtesad News also reported on March 22 that data from Iran’s Statistical Center shows that the youth unemployment rate in the age group of 15 to 24 is higher than the country’s overall unemployment rate, with one of the reasons being the constraint of reconciling work hours and education.
Furthermore, the Eco Iran website stated in a report that in spring 2005, the unemployment rate among youth aged 15 to 24 was equivalent to 24 percent, and in winter 2010, the unemployment rate among this age group exceeded 31 percent, marking the highest unemployment rate recorded in the past 19 years.
Eco Iran also wrote in October 2023, based on official statistics, that the active population in summer 2023 had reached nearly 26.8 million people, and investigations showed that this summer, 2.115 million individuals were unable to find employment and were considered unemployed.
Iranian regime President Ebrahim Raisi has been promising to create “a million jobs a year” since early June 2021 during his presidential campaign, a slogan that has been repeated by his labor minister, Sowlat Mortazavi, and has faced considerable criticism.
Experts have repeatedly emphasized that governments in Iran manipulate indicators or shift temporal bases, effectively resorting to statistical manipulation to “achieve success.”
