Formal reduction of unemployment and change in the basis of calculation
The Statistics Center's announcement of a 1.8 percent drop in the unemployment rate in the summer of 2019 raised doubts among many media outlets and experts. The Statistics Center says that, unlike in the past, it has calculated major labor market indicators based on the population aged 15 and over.
The Statistics Center of Iran announced on its website that, in compliance with labor laws and to provide greater compatibility with international standards, it calculates the country's major labor market indicators based on the population aged 15 and over. The Statistics Center says that the unemployment rate decreased by 1.8 percent in the summer of 2019, a claim that is not credible in the context of an economic recession.
This seems to be an explanation in response to the suspicion of manipulation of the unemployment rate statistics in the first half of 2019 and another independent statistic of this rate in the summer. Many experts and media considered the 1.8% decrease in the unemployment rate in conditions of economic shock and severe recession to be a fabricated and formal statistic.
The National Statistics Portal announced in July 2019 that the population of employed people aged 10 years and over in the spring was 24 million and 382 people, an increase of 321 thousand people compared to the same period last year. The unemployment rate of the active population in this season was announced at 10.8 percent, which was 1.3 percent lower than the previous season.
In the statistics for the summer season, it was announced that 44.9 percent of the population aged 15 and over were economically active and the unemployment rate was 10.4 percent. The number of employed people aged 15 and over in this season was announced at 24 million 751 thousand people, which is 844 thousand more than the same period last year.
The report stated that the services sector had the highest employment share in the summer of 2019 with 49.1 percent, followed by the industrial sector with 32 percent and the agricultural sector with 19 percent.
The unemployed population includes those who are ready to work but are unable to find a job. Given Iran's economic situation, negative growth rates, and the recession caused by sanctions, many were surprised by the rate announced by the Statistics Center, and some called it a manipulation of reality.
ILNA News Agency writes in this regard: "As the Statistics Center says, the unemployment rate is calculated for the population aged 15 and over up to 65 years old; something that can be considered both good and bad. The negative point is the nominal reduction in the unemployment rate, and the positive point is the exclusion of people aged 10 to 15 from the circle of people active in the field of work and the proximity to global standards in the field of child labor."
According to a new report by the Statistical Center of Iran, in the summer of 2019, the highest unemployment rate was recorded in Sistan and Baluchestan Province at 15.2 percent, followed by Yazd Province with an unemployment rate of 15.1 percent and Lorestan Province with an unemployment rate of 14.7 percent.
The latest report by the Statistical Center of Iran also shows that in spring 2019, the active male population increased compared to spring 2018, but the active female population in the labor market decreased by 170,000. The report states that men's share of economic participation in spring 2019 was 65 percent, while women's share was 16.1 percent.
Mahnaz Ghadirzadeh, a labor relations expert and women's activist, believes that economic fluctuations and a lack of financial resources in production units have placed women at the forefront of options for workforce reduction.
The Tehran Chamber of Commerce had previously announced that 28 million Iranian women are economically inactive.
Source: DW
