Jobless rate hits 11.2% in Iran

TEHRAN,Feb.12(MNA) - Iran’s unemployment rate in autumn 2012 hit 11.2 percent, down 0.6 percent compared to the figure in autumn last year, the Statistical Center of Iran said. The jobless rate was 11.1 percent in spring. Some 1 million new jobs have been created in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, 2012. During the previous year, the nation’s working population was 25 million, the report added. According to Etemad Persian language daily, the administration had pledged to create 2.5 million jobs in the current (calendar) year. Persons aged 20-24 years are the most unemployed group in Iran with the unemployment rate of 29.8 percent.