At the other end of the scale, of the regions with jobless rates of 5.4%

Latest estimates show that 193,000 more people were in work between October and December, compared to the previous three months.

The subsidies are estimated to cost about $20bn a year, equivalent to almost 3% of Indonesia's total economic output.

Thousands of motorists rushed to fill up before midnight, after the measure was announced late on Friday.

petrol prices to rise by 44% and diesel by 22%.

The announcement sparked clashes in the capital, Jakarta, where protesters blocked roads and fought with police.

Indonesians had been demonstrating on the streets of many major cities all week in anticipation of the rise.

UK construction picked up speed in November with output rising at the fastest pace in more than six years.

UK could soon recover the ground lost during the crisis: "These survey indicators are suggesting something like a 1% rise in GDP

If this sort of pace can be continued into 2014, then the level of UK output will have risen above its pre-crisis peak by next summer."

"Mining investment is coming off, maybe not as quickly as people have been worrying about, but it's that growth transition, the pick-up in the non-mining side, where the evidence is still mixed,"

The numbers come just a day after Australia's central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low 2.75%

Some analysts suggested that if growth continued to remain weak, the bank may be prompted to cut rates further to try to boost the economy.