Page 24 - IRANRptSep22

4.3 Labour and income
4.3.1 Labour market, unemployment dynamics
Unemployment rate at 8.9% in 4Q 2021
300,000 stone factory workers in Iranian industrial town continue strike for third day
More than 100 teachers reported arrested in Iran protests
According to the Central Bank of Iran, the country’s unemployment rate declined to 8.9% y/y in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 9.6% y/y in the previous quarter. Iran's unemployment rate was estimated to reach 9.8% of the total labor force in 2020. The unemployment rate has been above 10% for the last 10 years, and this rate is estimated to have peaked in 2014 when it reached 14%.
Youth unemployment (covering the 15-29 age range), stands at least twice the general joblessness rate, according to latest available data, while university graduate unemployment is thought to be around 40%. Despite the many times the government has stressed the need to boost employment, overall youth unemployment has risen more than 5% in the past three years.
Around 300,000 stone factory workers in the Iranian industrial town of Mahmoudabad in Isfahan on June 20 continued their strike for a third consecutive day despite threats from the authorities, according to Radio Farda.
Iran in recent months has seen an upsurge in unrest over cost-of-living and work conditions, among other mounting difficulties. Wage arrears, a lack of insurance support, inadequate old-age pensions, water shortages, the deadly state of buildings constructed cheaply because of corruption and the jailing of teachers protesting about their pay and other difficulties have been among issues that have drawn people on to the streets to protest. At the same time, Iran still forbids the forming of independent unions.
The strike in Mahmoudabad was reportedly kicked off by a union leader who was arrested by security forces afterwards. Two days later, under duress, he was said to have called for an end to the action, but was ignored.
June 20 brought a rally of discontented truck drivers outside the Road Administration building in Tehran.
More than 100 teachers were arrested in Iran for taking part in protests demanding improved pay and working conditions and the freeing of previously imprisoned teachers, the Iranian Teachers' Union's Coordination Council said on its Telegram channel on June 17.
Sixty teachers in Shiraz, around 30 in Kurdistan Province, 10 in Qazvin, six in Rasht and three in Khomeini-Shahr were arrested during a nationwide rally the
24 IRAN Country Report September 2022 www.intellinews.com