The number of employed persons further increased in September 2023 with a marginal rise of 0.1 per cent (+20.2 thousand persons) to record 16.38 million persons (August 2023: 16.35 million persons).
During the month, the employment-to-population ratio, which indicates the ability of an economy to create employment, remained at 67.7 per cent as of August 2023.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) released its Monthly Principal Statistics of Labour Force today which cited in terms of the economic sector, the Services sector continued to exhibit increases in the number of employed persons, especially in Wholesale & retail trade; Food & beverage services; and Transportation & storage activities.
Similarly, the Manufacturing, Construction, Mining & quarrying and Agriculture sectors also witnessed an increase in the number of employed persons during the month.
In September 2023, 75.3 per cent of the total employed persons were in the employees’ category. As compared to the previous month, this category recorded a slight increase of 0.1 per cent (+10.3 thousand persons), reaching a total of 12.33 million persons (August 2023: 12.32 million persons).
A similar trend was also observed in the own-account workers, with an increase of 0.2 per cent (+7.4 thousand persons) to register 2.97 million persons (August 2023: 2.97 million persons).
The number of unemployed persons declined further in September 2023 to record 573.7 thousand persons, reduced by 0.6 per cent (-3.6 thousand persons) as compared to 577.3 thousand persons in August 2023. The unemployment rate during the month stood at 3.4 per cent as in the previous month.
The number of labour force continued to expand in September 2023, with a rise of 0.1 per cent (+16.7 thousand persons) to 16.95 million persons (August 2023: 16.93 million persons), registering 70.1 per cent of the labour force participation rate (LFPR) as recorded last month.
The number of outside labour force in September 2023 went up by 0.1 per cent or 7.6 thousand persons to 7.24 million persons (August 2023: 7.23 million persons). The main reasons for being outside the labour force were due to housework/ family responsibilities (42.9%) and engaging in schooling/ training (40.3%).
