Malaysia’s unemployment rate continues to drop

The number of unemployed persons fell below 700,000 in November, its lowest level since April 2020, according to the Department of Statistics.
By: | January 12, 2022

This was a decrease of 1.5% month-on-month to 694,400 persons from the 705,000 in October 2021, said chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.

Month-on-month, the unemployment rate in November remained unchanged at 4.3%, said Uzir.

“Malaysia’s labour force situation has been picking up gradually since August 2021 as most economic and social activities were operating as usual in accordance with strict SOPs.” The continuous operation of these activities may thereby create additional jobs in the upcoming months, he said.

The number of employed persons had continued to rise for four consecutive months, with an increase of 0.4% month-on-month, reaching 15.61 million persons in November.

The employment-to-population ratio increased by 0.2 percentage point from 65.8% in October to 66.8% in November.

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By industry, the upward trend of employment was seen in the services sector, mainly in wholesale and retail trade, food and beverages, information and communications, transport and storage, manufacturing and construction.

On the other hand, the number of employed persons declined in the agriculture, mining and quarrying sectors, according to Free Malaysia Today.