Malaysia’s labour market continued on an improving trend as the unemployment rate maintained at a pandemic low of 3.4% in Aug-23. Labour force and employment continued expanding +1.8%yoy and +2.1%yoy, respectively, supported by upbeat domestic economic momentum. The strengthening job market MIDF said will further reinforce consumer consumption and support overall GDP growth for this year.
Looking ahead, the labour market in Malaysia is expected to strengthen further in 2023 and 2024, backed by encouraging momentum in the domestic economy. Malaysia’s average unemployment rate is expected to decline further to 3.5% in 2023 and return to pre-pandemic levels at 3.3% in 2024. The return of non-citizens workers is expected to boost overall employment and reduce the jobless rate. As of 2QCY23, non-citizens’ employment is almost -2.7% lower than pre-pandemic levels. As of 8MCY23, employment grew by +2.5%yoy (2022: +3.5%) while unemployment was reduced by -9.8%yoy (2022: -14.8%) and the jobless rate averaged at 3.5% (2022: 3.8%). Continued improvement in the labour market will support consumer spending as the wage recipients to employment ratio has reached a new peak at 64.6% in 2022, among others
thanks to the minimum wage salary policy.
