COVID-19 Impact Diminishes, Unemployment in South Sulawesi Falls by 7.06%

COVID-19 cases in Indonesia have decreased. This has led to a reduction in the number of working-age people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August 2021, the number of working-age people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic was recorded at 203,690. This is down from 287,640 in August 2020.

One of the contributing factors to this decrease is the unemployment rate. The number of unemployed affected by the pandemic fell to 14,220 in August 2021, compared to 24,920 in August of the previous year.

In South Sulawesi (Sulut), the open unemployment rate (OUR) decreased by 0.31 percentage points to 7.06% at the end of August this year, compared to 7.37% in August last year. Compared to February 2021, the province's OUR also fell by 0.22 percentage points.

The number of working-age people in Sulut was recorded at 1.95 million in August 2021. This comprises 1.21 million in the labor force and 738,420 not in the labor force. The number of employed in the labor force was 1.13 million, while the unemployed numbered 85,540.

By place of residence, the OUR in urban areas of Sulut was 9.07% of the total labor force. This figure is higher than the OUR in rural areas, which was only 4.75%.

Based on the highest level of education completed, Vocational High School (SMK) graduates had the highest unemployment rate in the province, reaching 11.42%. This was followed by Senior High School (SMA) graduates at 9.98%, university graduates at 7.24%, Junior High School (SMP) graduates at 5%, and elementary school (SD) graduates and below at 3.82%.

Note: Calculations use weights from the 2015 SUPAS population projection.