Five Years of Jokowi's Leadership: 420,000 Fewer Unemployed

During Joko Widodo (Jokowi)'s five years in office, both the number and percentage of unemployment have decreased. The increase in the workforce, coupled with the rise in the number of employed individuals, has managed to suppress the unemployment rate to near the 5 percent level, as shown in the graph.

Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the national workforce in February 2019 reached 136.18 million people. This figure increased by 14.31 million people compared to 121.87 million in August 2014, three months before Jokowi's inauguration as president. Similarly, the number of employed individuals increased by 14.73 million to 129.36 million from the previous 114.63 million. As a result, the number of unemployed decreased by 420 million to 6.8 million, or 5.01 percent of the total workforce. *(Note: There appears to be a significant error in the original text; the decrease in unemployment is likely 420,000, not 420 million.)*

(Read Databoks: Open Unemployment Rate Highest in West Java)

For information, 55.28 million people, or about 42.73 percent of workers, are employed in the formal sector, and 74.08 million people, or 57.27 percent, work in the informal sector.

(Read Databoks: February 2019 Unemployment Rate Falls to Lowest Level Since the 1998 Crisis)