BPS Records Employment Absorption of 1.89 Million People in the Last Year

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has recorded an increase of 1.89 million workers absorbed into employment over the period from February 2025 to February 2026. This addition has reduced the number of unemployed people and boosted the number of working residents to 147.57 million in February 2026. Meanwhile, the total labour force in February 2026 stood at 154.91 million people, an annual increase of 1.86 million. “The number of unemployed is 7.24 million people, a decrease of 35,000 from February 2025,” said BPS Chief Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti during a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday (5/5/2026). In February 2022, the number of unemployed was recorded at 8.40 million people, or 5.83% of the labour force. This figure fell to 7.99 million people, or 5.45%, in February 2023. The number of unemployed then decreased further to 7.20 million people, or 4.82% of the labour force, in February 2024. In February 2025, the number of unemployed was 7.28 million people, or 4.76%, before declining to 7.24 million people, or 4.68%, in February 2026. Amalia added that the number of formal workers also increased over the past year. “Formal workers rose from 59.19 million to 59.93 million people, accounting for 40.58% of the total working population,” she said. In terms of business sectors, agriculture remains the largest absorber of labour with 28.78 million workers as of February 2026. This is followed by the wholesale and retail trade sector, which absorbs 17.95 million people, and the manufacturing industry sector with 13.57 million people.