'135,000 Indonesians lost jobs in 2002'

'135,000 Indonesians lost jobs in 2002'

JAKARTA: A total of 135,421 Indonesian workers lost their jobs last year, a 34 percent rise on the previous year, a manpower official said Wednesday.,

Muzni Tambusai, director general for industrial relations, told a parliamentary commission that his office had registered 4,486 cases of mass dismissals involving 135,421 workers in 2002, the state Antara news agency reported.

"That means an 18 percent rise in the cases of mass dismissals and a 34 percent rise in the number of workers involved," Tambusai said.

He said the actual number of job losses could be much greater because many dismissals were not reported to the government as the regulations require.

Indonesian unemployment stood at 8.4 million in the first half of last year and an estimated 25 million more had only part-time work. -- AFP