Iran Services Sector's Job Market Share Reaches 50% in Q3

EghtesadOnline: The services sector employed 50% of the Iranian employed population (12.22 million) in the third quarter of the current Iranian year (Sept. 23-Dec. 21, 2019), 0.1% more than the corresponding period of last year.

News ID: ۷۴۹۳۸۲

07 January 2020

According to the Statistical Center of Iran's latest report on Iran's job market, the industrial and agricultural sectors provided 32.9% and 17.1% of the employed population with jobs respectively during the period.

Over 8.03 million were employed in the industrial sector, indicating an increase of 0.1% compared with the year before and 4.19 million worked in the agricultural sector, posting a 0.1% decline YOY, according to Financial Tribune.

The services sector consists of 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.

The services sector employed 9.95 million men and 2.26 million women in the three months, 6.67 million men and 1.35 million women were working in the industrial sector and 3.35 million men and 839,773 women worked in the agricultural sector in Q3.

Services sector accounted for 59.4% or 10.65 million of all jobs in urban areas and 24.1% or 1.57 million of the jobs in rural areas.

The industrial sector comprised 34.4% or 6.16 million of the jobs in urban areas and 28.6% or 1.86 million of rural employment whereas 6.2% or 1.11 million of the total jobs in urban areas and 47.2% or 3.07 million of the jobs in rural areas were in the agricultural sector.

Iran’s unemployment rate, the proportion of jobless population of ages 15 years and above, stood at 10.6% in the third quarter of the current Iranian year (Sept. 23-Dec. 21, 2019), indicating a 1.2% decrease compared with the same period of last year.

A total of 2,892,726 Iranians were unemployed in Q3, the latest report by the Statistical Center of Iran shows.

Men’s unemployment stood at 8.9% while the rate for women hovered around 17.3%. Over 1.95 million men and 936,002 women of ages 15 and above were jobless in Q3.

The unemployment rate was 11.8% for urban areas (2.39 million people) and 7.1% for rural areas (494,277 people).

One of the main objectives of the government for the next Iranian year (to start March 20, 2020) is improving domestic production and employment. As one of the attachments to the newly unveiled budget bill suggests, the Iranian government is planning to create close to one million jobs by shoring up main sectors that drive economic growth.

Investment in reviving neighborhoods struggling with urban decay, agriculture, tourism, knowledge-based companies, industry and mining, culture and arts, inter-city rail transport and improving policies related to the labor market are eight economic sectors that the government will focus on to implement the next year’s job creation plan.

To finance job-creation projects in these eight fields, 535.48 trillion rials ($3.9 billion) will be allocated from three main sources, namely banks’ resources, the country's sovereign wealth fund, i.e. the National Development Fund of Iran, and the government’s general budget.