Maluku had the highest open unemployment rate (OUR) in August 2017. The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) recorded 65,735 unemployed individuals in Maluku, representing 9.29% of the total workforce of 707,796. The number of unemployed in Maluku in August 2017 increased by 13,372 compared to August 2016. Meanwhile, the number of employed individuals in the workforce decreased by 48,725, reaching 642,061.
Banten had the second-highest unemployment rate. In August 2017, unemployment in this westernmost province of Java reached 520,000, or 9.28% of the total workforce of 5.6 million. Unemployment in Banten increased by 21,000 compared to August 2016. The number of employed individuals decreased to 5.08 million from 5.09 million.
West Java ranked third, with 1.84 million unemployed individuals, representing 8.22% of the total workforce of 22.39 million in August 2017. The high OUR in West Java was driven by a 1.32 million increase in the workforce, while the number of unemployed only decreased by 30,000.