Indonesia’s labor market demonstrated robust growth between August 2025 and August 2026, with the addition of 1.44 million jobs, as reported by national employment statistics. This increase pushed the total number of employed individuals to 147.99 million, highlighting the country’s economic resilience.
The labor force also expanded significantly, reaching 155.37 million, which marks a rise of approximately 1.37 million people compared to the previous year. Despite this growth, the labor force participation rate experienced a slight decline, standing at 70.33% in August 2026, down from 70.59% the year prior. Male participation remained notably higher at 84.16%, compared to 56.37% for females.
In terms of sectoral distribution, agriculture continued to be the largest employment sector, encompassing 28.20% of the workforce. The wholesale and retail trade sectors accounted for 17.86%, while the manufacturing sector employed 13.75% of workers.
Furthermore, the unemployment rate saw a slight improvement. The number of unemployed people decreased by 77,000, bringing the total to 7.38 million. Consequently, the national unemployment rate fell to 4.75%, a reduction of 0.09 percentage points from August 2025.