The number of labor force in West Sulawesi is around 573 thousand people, an increase of around 12 thousand compared to August 2012 (up around 2.18 percent). When compared to the same period in the previous year (February 2012), employment increased by around 11.8 thousand people (up about 2.09 percent).
The number of people employed in February 2013 was 562 thousand, an increase of 12.8 thousand compared to August 2012 (up around 2.32 percent). When compared to the same period the previous year, there was an increase of 11.9 thousand people (up around 2.17 percent).
The Open Unemployment Rate (TPT) in February 2013 was 2.00 percent, meaning that of the approximately 100 residents included in the workforce, 2 of them were unemployed. This figure is down compared to August 2012 where the TPT was 2.14 percent.
Agriculture is still the largest employment sector in West Sulawesi. In February 2013, the number of people working in the sector was around 58.77 percent of the total population employed, or equivalent to 330 thousand people.
Nearly ¾ workers in West Sulawesi in February 2013 were informal workers, totaling 421 thousand people (around 74.92 percent), while the remaining 141 thousand people (around 25.08 percent) were formal workers. When compared to the situation in August 2012, the increase in informal workers in West Sulawesi was quite significant. This was mainly triggered by increased activity in the agricultural sector, especially food crop agriculture which absorbed a large number of residents who were trying to be assisted by temporary workers and also unpaid workers.
Based on the number of hours worked during the week in February 2013, as many as 257 thousand people (45.70 percent) worked above 35 hours during the week, while workers with less than 35 hours of work hours during the week were about 305 thousand people (54.30 percent).
Workers in West Sulawesi are still dominated by workers with low education. Almost ¾ workers have junior high school education and below. Workers in West Sulawesi with elementary school level and below were 345 thousand people (61.38 percent) and workers with junior high school education were 73 thousand people (12.96 percent). Even so, there has been a shift in the level of education of workers from low level to the level above.
In February 2013 TPT West Sulawesi was the smallest on Sulawesi Island at 2.00 percent, while the largest was North Sulawesi at 7.19 percent.
