Jakarta – The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has recorded an increase in the number of unemployed people to 7.04 million in August, 2017, up from 7.03 million in the same month last year.

BPS head Suhariyanto said the rise in the number of unemployed people was caused by the emergence of new job seekers. "In one year, the number of unemployed people increased by 10,000, to 7.04 million," he said in Jakarta on Monday

Meanwhile, the open unemployment rate had decreased to 5.5 percent in August, 2017 from 5.61 percent in the same month last year.

"The number of new job seekers is recorded at 3 million per year. The number of workers and jobless people will always increase in line with the growing population," he said, adding that the most important thing was that the open unemployment rate decreased.

BPS also recorded that 11.41 percent of senior high school graduates are unemployed, the largest percentage among other school/university graduates.

BPS recorded that the number of employed people reached 128.06 million in August 2017, compared to 125.44 million in August 2016. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/11/06/number-of-unemployed-rises-to-7-04-million.html