Ilona Estherina, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated that as Indonesia enters the second quarter of 2026, the nation's economy remains in a strong position. Additionally, he claimed a series of economic indicators has improved, including a decrease in the unemployment rate.
Airlangga made these remarks during a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) at the Senate Hall of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. He noted, "Our Gini ratio has decreased, our unemployment has also fallen, and the creation of new jobs throughout 2025 amounted to 2.71 million new workers."
The former Minister of Industry also stated that the national poverty rate had decreased to 8.25 percent. He further mentioned that a combination of controlled inflation, a trade surplus spanning 70 consecutive months, and high consumer confidence has laid a solid foundation for continued economic growth.
Based on the latest data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of unemployed people in Indonesia as of November 2026 was recorded at 7.36 million. The total labor force in Indonesia as of November 2025 stood at 155.27 million people.
Meanwhile, the Open Unemployment Rate was recorded at 4.74 percent. The Open Unemployment Rate serves as an indicator used to measure labor that is not absorbed by the market, illustrating the underutilization of the available labor supply.
BPS recorded that the Open Unemployment Rate had indeed decreased by 0.11 percent compared to August 2025. The unemployment figure in November also saw a dip compared to the 7.46 million recorded in August. Furthermore, the number of unemployed individuals decreased slightly compared to the same period in the previous year, which recorded 7.47 million.
However, the increase in the number of employed people does not entirely represent full-time workers. Some are classified as part-time or underemployed. In November 2025, BPS reported that while the majority of the working population were full-time workers, accounting for 67.94 percent, the remaining 32.06 percent were not employed on a full-time basis.