<![CDATA[This study examines the relationship between micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), employment, educational attainment, unemployment, and poverty in Makassar City. The study specifically investigates the direct effects of MSMEs, employment, and educational attainment on unemployment and poverty, as well as their indirect relationships with poverty through unemployment. A quantitative explanatory approach was employed using annual secondary data for the period 2004–2023. The analysis was conducted using path analysis through two multiple regression equations estimated with EViews 12. The findings indicate that employment has a negative and statistically significant effect on both unemployment and poverty, demonstrating that employment absorption represents the most consistent factor associated with improved socioeconomic outcomes in Makassar City. In contrast, MSMEs have positive but statistically insignificant effects on unemployment and poverty. Educational attainment has a positive but statistically insignificant effect on unemployment and a negative but statistically insignificant effect on poverty. Furthermore, unemployment has a positive but statistically insignificant effect on poverty. The calculated indirect effects through unemployment are relatively small compared with the direct effects, indicating that the unemployment pathway does not substantially change the dominant role of employment in explaining poverty outcomes. These findings suggest that poverty reduction in urban areas requires more than increasing the number of MSMEs or years of schooling. Policy interventions should prioritize productive and sustainable employment creation, improve MSME productivity and employment absorption capacity, strengthen the alignment between education and labor-market requirements, and expand protection for vulnerable workers. The study contributes to the understanding of how local economic development can be translated into improved household welfare through employment-oriented poverty-reduction strategies..]]>
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