The Department Of Statistics reported a 0.2% growth in the labour market for July 2023, recording the number of employed persons at 27.2 thousand persons month-on-month, resulting in a total of 16.34 million persons (June 2023: 16.31 million persons). During the month, the employment-to-population ratio which indicates the ability of an economy to create employment, rose by 0.1 per cent to 67.7 per cent (June 2023: 67.6%).
Looking at the distribution of employed persons across economic sectors, the Services sector continued to record increases in the number of employed persons, particularly in Food & beverage services; Wholesale & retail trade; and Education activities. Likewise, the number of employed persons in the Construction and Mining & quarrying sectors also remained on a positive trend, while the Manufacturing and Agriculture sectors registered marginal declines during the month.
The employees’ category constituted the largest composition of the total employed persons, making up 75.4 per cent. In July 2023, this category registered a rise of 0.1 per cent (+14.4 thousand persons) to 12.31 million persons as compared to the previous month (June 2023: 12.30 million persons). Similarly, the number of own-account workers were also on increasing trend, with an addition of 10.4 thousand persons (+0.4%) to 2.96 million persons (June 2023: 2.95 million persons).
In July 2023, the number of unemployed persons continued to decline, falling by 0.4 per cent (-2.5 thousand persons) to record 579.2 thousand persons (June 2023: 581.7 thousand persons). The unemployment rate in July 2023 remained at 3.4 per cent as in the previous month.
The number of labour force continued an upward trend in July 2023, with a month-on-month rise of 0.1 per cent or equivalent to 24.8 thousand persons to 16.91 million persons (June 2023: 16.89 million persons). During the month, a higher labour force participation rate (LFPR) was recorded at 70.1 per cent (June 2023: 70.0%).
In July 2023, the number of persons outside the labour force posted a marginal decline of 0.01 per cent (-0.7 thousand persons) to 7.23 million persons (June 2023: 7.23 million persons). Housework/ family responsibilities were the major composition of the outside labour force (43.6%), followed by the schooling/ training category (39.8%).
