Maluku's Open Unemployment Rate Reached 6.93% in August 2021

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that the number of unemployed people in Maluku was 59,589 in August 2021. This figure is equivalent to 4.6% of the total working-age population in the province, which was 1,308,543 people.

The number is also equivalent to 6.93% of the total workforce in Maluku, which reached 860,344 people. Thus, the open unemployment rate (OUR) in Maluku is still above the national average of 6.49%.

Compared to February 2021, which was 6.73%, the Maluku OUR in August 2021 increased by 2.9 percentage points. However, the Maluku OUR in August 2021 was still 8.5 percentage points lower than the same period the previous year, which was 7.57%.

According to BPS, this condition occurred because Maluku's workforce was still impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 127,678 people were recorded as impacted by the pandemic in August 2021, down 35.03% compared to the same period last year.

Of that number, 112,002 people experienced reduced working hours. 7,492 people became unemployed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Furthermore, 6,530 people were temporarily not working due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, 1,654 people were classified as not in the workforce (BAK) due to the Covid-19 pandemic.