Malaysia’s Unemployment Rate on a Downward Trend

The country's unemployment rate declined in February 2022 to 4.1%, or 671,800 people, compared to January's 680,40.

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia's labour force poll, February saw a boosted labour force. Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin stated that all economic and social activities were in operation in February, spurring growth.

 

Labour force continues to grow

He remarked that the growth also reflects additional labour demand by companies as well as new job openings for them to sustain.

Mohd Uzir said the above factors led to the decline in the number of unemployment and decreased unemployment rate during February. The month's unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2% in January 2022.

On a month-on-month basis, there was a 0.3% increase in the number of employed persons to 15.73 million persons in February, a boost from 15.69 million in January. This also translates to a higher employment-to-population ratio at 66.3%.

As a result, the labour force continued to rise month-to-month, growing by 0.2% to 16.4 million people compared to 16.37 million in January. However, the labour force participation rate in February remained unchanged at 69.1%.

 

Lower rate of the actively unemployed

Mohd Uzir also said the actively unemployed (jobseekers) accounted for 83.7% of the total unemployed people throughout February. The number of people in this group declined by 1.2%, from 569,500 persons in January to 562,500 in February.

He added that those who had been unemployed for less than three months made up 56.7% of the total active unemployed, and those who had been jobless for over three months made up the rest. 

Meanwhile, the rate of those who believed there were no jobs available or were inactively jobless decreased by 1.4% to 109,300 from 110,900 in January.

In February, the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 decreased to 13.0% or 356,900 persons from 364,500 in January. Similarly, the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 30 fell to 8.1% at 513,700 persons from 521,800 persons in January.

 

Unemployment and sectors

The Chief Statistician said the employee category comprises the largest composition of employed persons at 76.6%, logging a month-on-month increase of 0.1% to 12.05 million persons from January this year.

He added that there's a similar trend in the own-account workers' category, which increased by 0.7% in February to log 2.67 million persons from 2.66 million in January. 

The growth in the employed persons rate in the services sector persisted mainly in:

• Food and beverage (F&B) services,

• Transportation and storage activities, and

• Wholesale and retail trade,

Likewise, the manufacturing and construction industries' employment also increased. On the other hand, agriculture and mining, and quarrying saw a fall in the number of people employed.

For the inactive group, the number of persons outside the labour force decreased by 0.2% to 7.32 million persons from 7.33 in January. Of the above:

• 41.7% was due to household or family duties, and

• 40.9% was due to schooling and training.

 

Mohd Uzir explained that encouraging economic activity delivers a positive signal to the labour market, hence promoting more inclusion and allowing the labour market to stay strong for the future.

Moreover, Malaysia's transition to the endemic phase, the opening of international borders, physical distancing and removal of other restrictions allow all economic and business activities to resume operations.

He said that this move encourages more international travel activities to take place and helps to revitalise Malaysia's tourism sector and tourism-related activities.

He concluded that the reopening of Malaysia's border is also seen as a catalyst to revitalise the foreign labour shortage in the country. 

 

Source: The Malaysian Reserve