Indonesia`s Open Unemployment Rate Reaches 5.43 Percent in August: BPS

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Jakarta, MINA — The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) said Indonesia`s open unemployment rate was 5.34 percent in August 2018, down from 5.50 percent a year earlier.

“Unemployment rate dropped 0.16 percent but the gap is still wide between urban and rural areas,” Antara News quoted head of BPS Suhariyanto as saying in a news conference here on Monday.

In August, there were seven million jobless people among the country`s labor force or 40,000 smaller than in August 2017.

The open unemployment in August, 2018 was 6.45 percent in urban areas and 4.04 percent in rural areas.

In comparison with in August 2017, the open unemployment in August this year was 0.34 percentage point smaller in urban area and 0.03 percentage point higher in rural areas.

“The main cause is that there are fewer people wanting to work in the agricultural sector,” Suhariyanto.

BPS has announced that Indonesia`s economy grew 5.17 percent in the third quarter of this year, higher than 5.06 percent in the same period last year. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)