Unemployment Rate Drops 5.7%

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Statistics Indonesia (BPS) noted that, as of February 2013, the number of unemployed people in Indonesia had dropped by 440,000 people, a 5.7 percent decline from the end of last year.

"Although the number of labor force increased, the number of unemployed people declined. This means that conditions have improved," Head of BPS Suryamin said in Jakarta, Monday.

BPS' data shows that there were 7.17 million people unemployed in February this year, accounting for 5.92 percent of the labor force. In the same period last year, the number of unemployed people amounted to 7.61 million, 6.92 percent of the total labor force.

Suryamin said that in February 2012 the total labor force was only 120.41 million people. The number grew by 780,000, year-on-year (YOY), to 121.19 million people.

Unemployment decline occurred in almost all provinces in Indonesia except for Aceh and Southeast Sulawesi. The highest decline occurred in Jakarta, dropping from 566,510 people in February 2012 to 513,170 people, YOY.

Emma Allen, an economist from the International Labour Organization (ILO) previously said that from February to August 2012, Indonesia's unemployment rate fell from 6.32 to 6.14 percent. During this period, there was an addition of 1.13 million new jobs in Indonesia.

PINGIT ARIA | RAHMA TW