Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug.30/ Trend F.Karimov/
Iran will face a population of around 8.5 million jobless in the near future, the Mehr News Agency quoted Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia as saying.
For the time being, some 3.5 people are jobless in the country, he said, adding that the figure will soar to 8.5 million, because a large number of educated youth will be graduated from universities soon and will seek jobs.
Previously, Tayyebnia said that low economic growth rate is currently the main challenge in the national economy.
Tayyebnia referred to high unemployment as another serious concern.
The ministry will focus on improving the living standards through curbing inflation and flourishing businesses, he stated.
The number of jobless people in Iran has increased by 270,000 over the past eight years (March 2005-March 2013.
According to statistics released by the Statistical Center of Iran, the number of jobless people rose from 2,674,866 in Iranian calendar year 1384 (March 2005-March 2006) to 2,944,158 in Iranian calendar year 1391 (March 2012-March 2013).
This is while some 6 million workers in Iran receive the lowest salary set by the labor ministry.
The Central Bank of Iran has recently reported that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate (excluding oil sector) was 3.2 percent in the Iranian calendar year 1390, which ended in March 2012, ISNA reported.
This is while the Statistical Center of Iran put the figure at 3 percent.
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