The jobless rate was reported to be 14.9 percent in urban areas and 8 percent in rural areas, according to the IRNA News Agency.

 

The number of unemployed people amounted to 3.146 million during the mentioned period of time.

 

Meanwhile, the deputy minister of labor and social welfare said on Tuesday that plans are underway to reduce the unemployment rate by two percent by the end of the current calendar year.

 

Mohammad-Hossein Forouzan-Mehr added that during 2013-2015, the unemployment rate will decrease by one percent each year to reach the goal of 7 percent unemployment rate, the Mehr News Agency reported.

 

A member of Iran's High Council of Employment has said that the council developed a package of investment plans, worth 1.96 trillion rials (some $160 billion), aimed to create 1.1 million jobs in the current calendar year.

 

The Mehr News Agency quoted Davoud Qaderi as saying that although the package has envisaged creating around 2.5 million jobs, but some 1.1 million of the jobs will be new. 

 

The unemployment rate in Iran stood at 12.3 percent in the past calendar year, showing 1.2 percent fall compared to its preceding year, the Statistical Center of Iran reported.

 

Some 400,000 persons have been employed in Iran in last calendar year, which ended on March 19, while the government has announced over 1.6 million job opportunities have been created last year, the Mehr News Agency reported on June 12.