Iran’s Census Bureau reports that unemployment rose to 10.5 percent in the fall of 2014, which marks a one-percent increase compared to the summer and a two-percent rise compared to fall of last year.
The Mehr News Agency reports that 2.52 million people are unemployed, according to the Census report. The report adds that only 37.3 percent of the population of working age were involved in economic activities, and the participation rate was lower for women compared to men and city dwellers compared to rural residents.
Unemployment among youth between the ages of 15 to 29 now stands at 21.8 percent, with that age group comprising the largest portion of the country’s unemployed. The rate has been on the rise and is now 1.6 percentage points higher than in the summer of 2014.
Unemployment has risen significantly in the past decade in Iran, especially throughout the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.