SOLID ECONOMIC GROWTH ABLE TO CUT INDONESIA'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: MINISTER

JAKARTA, May 6 (Bernama-Antara) -- Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati affirmed that Indonesia's solid economic growth was able to reduce the open unemployment rate (TPT), reported Antara.

"Our growth quality increased significantly, reflected in the fairly high level of job creation, which has reduced the open unemployment rate to below pre-pandemic levels," the minister said in a statement from her office on Monday.

In February 2024, the number of employees was recorded at 142.18 million people, an increase of 3.55 million as compared to 138.63 million people in February 2023, she said.

Indrawati highlighted that this increase also had an impact on reducing the unemployment rate significantly.

The TPT in February 2024 was recorded at the level of 4.82 per cent or lower than February 2023 at 5.32 per cent, and the period before the COVID-19 pandemic, or February 2019, at 5.01 per cent.

According to the minister, the business fields experiencing the largest increase in labour absorption during the February 2023-February 2024 period were accommodation and food and beverage, trade, and government administration, which increased by 0.96 million, 0.85 million, and 0.76 million people, respectively.

Meanwhile, the percentage of informal workers decreased from 60.12 per cent in February 2023 to 59.17 per cent in February 2024, the minister said.

Indrawati is optimistic that the reduction in the proportion of informal workers will provide a positive indication to improve the quality of the workforce nationally, as more people have access to formal jobs or have better job stability.

"We will continue to optimise the state budget to maintain economic stability, encourage accelerated growth, and create job opportunities." 

Statistics Indonesia also reported that Indonesia's economic growth in the first quarter of 2024 was recorded at 5.11 per cent on an annual basis (year-on-year).

In the first quarter of 2024, Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices was recorded at Rp5,288.3 trillion (US$318 billion), while the GDP at constant prices reached Rp3,112.9 trillion.

-- BERNAMA-ANTARA