The number of unemployed persons in Malaysia continued to decrease in January this year with a reduction of 0.6% to 596,100 compared to 599,600 in December 2022, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
DOSM’s Key Statistics of Labour Force in Malaysia, January 2023 release said Malaysia’s employment rate in January this year remained at 3.6%
Commenting on the statistics, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in January, the country’s labour market continued on an upward trend following the current improvement of the country’s economic position, in keeping with the expansion of the global economy.
Therefore, he said the number of the labour force in January improved further, increasing by 0.2% month-on-month to 16.76 million persons compared to 16.73 million persons in December 2022.
The labour force participation rate during the month remained at 69.8%.
“The positive scenario was contributed by an increase in the number of employed persons, whereas the number of unemployed persons continued to decrease,” he said in a statement.
Mohd Uzir said the number of employed persons in January further increased by 0.2% month-on-month to record 16.16 million persons compared to 16.13 million persons in December 2022.
On the employment situation, he said the employees’ category accounted for 75.7% of the total employed persons in January 2023 as it recorded a marginal increase of 0.1%, reaching a total of 12.24 million persons compared to 12.23 million persons in December 2022.
“A similar trend was observed in the own-account workers, with an increase of 0.6% to record 2.88 million persons (December 2022: 2.86 million persons),” he said.
In terms of the economic sector, Mohd Uzir said the number of employed persons in the services sector continued to increase, largely in wholesale and retail trade; food and beverage services; and administrative and support service activities.
A similar trend of employment was also observed in the manufacturing, construction and mining and quarrying sectors, as well as in the agriculture sector, he added.
