50,000 jobless in Makassar

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi: The prolonged economic crisis has left a total of 50,000 people jobless, a portion of whom were still looking for work, the head of the Makassar office of the Ministry of Manpower said on Thursday.

"Our latest data shows that about 16,000 people are looking for work... the remaining unemployed are either victims of layoffs, or have never before worked in their lives," Harry T. Mandey told reporters at Makassar City Hall, as quoted by Antara.

He added that 30,000 of the jobless were women, since the majority of companies in Makassar which had earlier employed women had had to close down their businesses due to the crisis.

"Most of the companies that have closed down are those located in the Makassar Industrial Area (Kima)," he said. (ylt)