KUCHING: The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) reported that the nation’s unemployment rate dipped to 3.5 per cent with 591.9 thousand unemployed persons as of Feb 2023.
On the overall performance of the month, chief statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that the position of the country’s labour market continues to be stable in line with the current economic developments.
“In this regard, the number of labour force in February 2023 was on an increasing trend, with a month-on-month increase of 0.2 per cent to 16.78 million persons (January 2023: 16.76 million persons), recording a higher labour force participation rate at 69.9 per cent (January 2023: 69.9 percent).
“This encouraging situation was attributed to a continuous addition in the number of employed persons while the number of unemployed was on a decreasing trend,” he said in a statement today.
He added that in Feb 2023, the number of employed persons continued to rise, recording 16.19 million persons, an increase of 0.2 per cent month-on-month (January 2023: 16.19 million persons).
“On the contrary, the number of unemployed persons in February continued to be on a downward trend, with a decrease of 0.7 per cent to 591.9 thousand persons (January 2023: 591.9 thousand persons).
“Accordingly, the unemployment rate during the month fell by 0.1 percentage points to 3.5 per cent (January 2023: 3.5 per cent),” he said.
Meanwhile, on the employment situation, he explained that the employees’ category comprised 75.7 per cent, which consistently has the largest composition of employed persons in February 2023.
“This category registered a month-on-month increase of 0.1 per cent to 12.25 million persons (January 2023: 12.25 million persons).
“The own-account workers also posted a rise of 0.5 per cent to record 2.89 million persons in February 2023 (January 2023: 2.89 million persons),” he said.
Mohd Uzir further disclosed that in the economic sector, the number of employed persons in the Services sector continued to increase, particularly in food and beverage services, wholesale and retail trade; and administration and support service activities. On the same note, the number of employed persons in the manufacturing; construction; mining and quarrying; and agriculture sectors also denoted the same trend.
“The actively unemployed or those who were available for work and were actively seeking jobs, encompassed 80.3 per cent of the total unemployed persons in February 2023.
“The number in this category reduced by 1.3 per cent to record 475.5 thousand persons (January 2023: 481.6 thousand persons).
“Out of the total actively unemployed, those unemployed for less than three months comprised 61.0 per cent, while those who were in long-term unemployment for more than a year was 6.3 per cent.
“In the meantime, the inactively unemployed or those who believed that there were no jobs available, increased 1.7 per cent to 116.4 thousand persons (January 2023: 114.5 thousand persons),” he said.
Furthermore, he noted that during the month, the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 years posted a decrease of 0.2 percentage points to 11.3 per cent, with the numbers at 320.8 thousands persons (January 2023: 11.5 per cent; 328.8 thousands persons).
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 30 years remained at 7.0 per cent, registering 450.2 thousand unemployed (January 2023: 7.0 percent; 449.7 thousand persons).
As for the inactivity group, he said, the number of persons outside the labour force in February 2023 continued to decline marginally at 0.02 per cent to 7.24 million persons (January 2023: 7.24 million persons).
As such, he concluded that the growth in all sectors of the economy and the need for more workers to support high domestic demand will lead to an increase in demand for labour.
“Therefore, the momentum of the labour market recovery is anticipated to continue in line with the expected trend of national economic growth, which remains favourable in 2023.
“The labour market is also foreseen to continue its steady growth momentum in the following months, corresponding to the current economic performance.”
