The same report further stated that employment rate rose by 1.3 percent in spring compared to the figure for Dec. 22, 2006-March 20, 2007 (winter) and declined by 0.9 percent in comparison with that for last spring.

According to Fars, the employment rate among women of working age was lower compared to that of men during the three months.

Also, the number of urban individuals of working age was lower than their rural peers.

Unemployment rate stood at 10.7 percent in spring, 11.2 percent in the year to March 2007 and 11.5 percent in the year to March 2006.

Figures indicate the unemployment rate among youth aged 15-24 was high, standing at 21.8 percent.

The statistics, however, acknowledged that the rate declined by 0.8 this spring and 3.6 percent last winter compared to the figures for the same periods last year.

The service sector accounted for 44.5-percent rate of the employment rate during the three months followed by industrial (31 percent) and agricultural (24.5) sectors.

In May, a senior Labor and Social Affairs Ministry official, Javad Farshbaf stated that the number of jobless university graduates is five percent higher than the national unemployment figure.

He added over 2.6 million Iranians are jobless while 1.5 million are involved in unproductive jobs.