Iran Desk
The national unemployment rate has reached a single digit in 18 provinces during the last three years, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday.

Addressing a group of graduates of a technical training center, the president said that the rate of unemployment stood at 12.3 percent before his government took to the office in 2005.

He appreciated efforts made by the State Technical and Vocational Training Organization to train Iranian youth with different skills "which would, in turn, help the country's development".

The president urged officials of the organization to use its maximum potentials to increase national employment rate.

Also present in the meeting was Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mohammad Jahromi said implementation of the government's technical training policy was the main cause of the drop in the unemployment rate in different provinces.

He said that some 600 private and 4,300 public technical training centers are currently active throughout the country.