TEHRAN - Figures by the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) show jobless rate in 20 out of 31 provinces in the country was single-digit in the quarter to June 21.
SCI figures showed that the number of Iranian provinces with single-digit unemployment rates had increased by four compared to the similar quarter in 2020.
Lowest quarterly unemployment rate was reported in the province of Hamadan at 5.6%. The region of nearly two million people is a bustling hub of agriculture in western Iran.
The IRNA report added that the province of Tehran, where the capital city in located, had the second lowest jobless rate at 6.3%.
Hormozgan on the Persian Gulf coast and Kermanshah on the border with Iraq were the two provinces with the highest incidence of joblessness at 16.6% and 14.7%, respectively.
The nationwide unemployment rate stood at 8.8% in the quarter to late June this year, down 1% from the same quarter last year, said the report.
The figure meant that some 23.676 million people from Iran’s active workforce had a job in the reference period.
Those employed in the labor force of above 15 years old increased to 37.7% over the same period, SCI figures showed.
Iran has seen its jobless rate decline in recent years despite economic problems facing the country because of both U.S. sanctions and the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Single-digit unemployment rates in many Iranian provinces come as the country has reported continued growth in manufacturing and agriculture activity since it came under U.S. sanctions in 2018.