Number of employed persons in Malaysia rises to record high

On a year-on-year basis, the number rose from 15.33 million in the same month last year. This came after more people got employed in the services, manufacturing and construction sectors in line with the country’s COVID-19 vaccine-driven resumption of economic activities, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) and economists.

The number of employed persons in the services sector remains in an upward trend mainly in the wholesale and retail trade, food and beverage, besides human health and social work segments, said DOSM.

Meanwhile, employment in agriculture and mining and quarrying sectors remained on a negative trend, it said.

Looking ahead, the DOSM said Malaysia’s economy and labour market will expand further in the coming months as more positive signs of the economy are indicated.

The country’s unemployment rate remained at 4.1% in March 2022 based on the nation’s 669,200 unemployed persons and 16.44 million-people labour force, the DOSM said.

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Economists are however optimistic about Malaysia’s labour market recovery. “Overall, the labour market has improved for eight straight months, reinforcing our expectations of a sustained recovery through 2022,” said UOB economists Julia Goh and Loke Siew Ting, according to The Edge.