Number of Unemployed in Indonesia Decreases, Airlangga Speaks Frankly About This

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto claims that Indonesia’s labour market conditions show improvement in early 2026. This is reflected in the increased absorption of labour alongside a decline in the unemployment rate.

“If we look at the social indicators, they continue to improve; from February 2025 to February 2026, labour absorption increased by 1.89 million, bringing the total number of employed people to 147.67 million, and the open unemployment rate decreased from 4.76% in February 2025 to 4.68% in February 2026,” Airlangga stated during a press conference at his office in Jakarta on Tuesday (5/5/2026).

He assessed that this achievement further strengthens the quality of national economic growth. In addition to the labour aspect, improvements are also evident in other social indicators.

“This achievement strengthens the quality of economic growth, alongside the poverty rate decreasing to 8.25% in September 2025 and a Gini ratio of 0.363, also in September 2025,” he continued.

This data aligns with reports from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), which previously noted improvements in the labour market, although it is still overshadowed by layoff dynamics.

BPS recorded that the number of people laid off from February 2025 to February 2026 reached 196,700. However, most of them have returned to work.

“Of course, in the Sakernas (National Labour Force Survey), we not only record people who are laid off but also those who get jobs back,” said BPS Chief Amalia Adhininggar Widyasanti during a press conference at the BPS office.

Of that total, 113,000 people have returned to work, 69,100 are still unemployed, and 14,600 fall into the non-labour force category.

Overall, the number of unemployed in Indonesia in February 2026 was recorded at 7.24 million people, a decrease of 35,000 from the same period the previous year. The open unemployment rate (TPT) also declined to 4.68%.

“The open unemployment rate in February 2026 is 4.68%, or about 5 out of 100 in the labour force are unemployed,” Amalia explained.

BPS also recorded that the labour force numbered 154.91 million in February 2026, an increase of 1.862 million from February 2025. Of that number, 147.67 million people are employed.

“The working population in February 2026 is 147.67 million, an increase of 1.896 million from February 2025. The sector with the largest labour absorption is agriculture, forestry, and fishing, employing 42.49 million people or 28.78%,” she said.

Meanwhile, the number of full-time workers has also increased significantly.

“Full-time workers increased by 2.10 million, while the number of unemployed decreased by 940,000,” she concluded.