Reduced Unemployment, BPS: There Are Still 7.02 Million People Not Working

Job seeker (photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that 7.02 million Indonesians still do not have jobs or are unemployed.

Based on BPS data, there are 214 million working-age residents as of February 2024. This number increased by 2.41 million people compared to February 2023. However, not all of them are absorbed in the labor market.

Acting Head of BPS Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti said the workforce reached 149.38 million people. This figure increased by 2.76 million people or grew 1.88 percent compared to February 2023.

Then, it was not recorded that the workforce (BAK) reached 64.62 million people or decreased by 0.54 percent from February 2023.

"From the workforce, not all of them are absorbed in the labor market, so there is 7.02 million unemployed people," Amalia said in the BPS Release, Monday, May 6.

Compared to the previous year, in February 2024 the number of unemployed was reduced by 0.79 million people, down 9.89 percent (year on year/yoy). Thus, the number of people working reached 142.18 million people. This number increased by 3.55 million people or an increase of 2.56 percent compared to February 2023.

In detail, Amalia said that the working population consisted of full workers, part-time workers and half-income workers.

First, there were 93.27 million full workers. This figure increased by 1.11 million people, an increase of 1.20 percent from February 2023.

It is known, the full worker category is workers with a maximum working hours of 35 hours a week. Second, part-time workers. This category is those who work less than 35 hours a week, but do not look for work or are not willing to accept other jobs.

"As many as 36.80 million people fall into this category or decrease by 0.22 percent," he said.

The third is half unemployment. Based on BPS data, 12.11 million people are included in this category. This figure increased by 2.52 million people or approximately an increase of 26.28 percent.

"Those who fall into this category are those who work less than 35 hours a week and are still looking for or receiving other additional jobs," he said.----------