Indonesia's open unemployment rate surges to highest level since 2011

Published Thu, May 13, 2021 · 05:50 AM

Indonesia

Jakarta

THE Covid-19 pandemic has hit Indonesia hard, especially its workforce as the country's open unemployment rate surged to its highest level since 2011, with more than 2.67 million Indonesians losing their jobs in 2020.

South-east Asia's largest economy contracted by 2.07 per cent in 2020 and while the government has projected an economic rebound this year, most economists and analysts remain cautious as the pandemic continues to ravage the economy.

According to the National Statistics Agency, total workforce reached 139.81 million as of February 2021 with unemployment at 6.26 per cent compared to 4.94 per cent the previous year.

The numbers, however, are signific…