February’s unemployment rate remained at 3.3 per cent, registering a lower number of unemployed at 567.0 thousand persons, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) reported today (Apr 8) in its release on Statistics of the Labour Force, Malaysia, February 2024.
The statistics described the labour supply situation based on the Labour Force Survey conducted by DOSM.
Chief Statistician Malaysia Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin said, “In February 2024, the country’s labour force position remained stable in line with the development of current economic activities, recording a continuing positive trend in the number of employed persons while the number of unemployed persons fell slightly.
“Therefore, the number of labour force during the month continued to record a month-on-month increase, with an addition of 0.1 per cent to 17.07 million persons (January 2024: 17.05 million persons). February’s labour force participation rate stood at 70.2 per cent as recorded in the preceding month.”
Dr Mohd Uzir stated that the number of employed persons remained increasing, with a month-on-month rise of 0.2 per cent to 16.51 million persons (January 2024: 16.48 million persons).
In contrast, the number of unemployed persons during the month continued to be on a downtrend, with a marginal decrease of 0.1 per cent to 567.0 thousand persons (January 2024: 567.3 thousand persons), registering a 3.3 per cent unemployment rate as in the prior month.
The Chief Statistician Malaysia said, “Out of the total employed persons in February 2024, 75.2 per cent were in the employees’ category, which recorded a slight increase of 0.1 per cent to 12.41 million persons (January 2024: 12.39 million persons). Likewise, the own-account workers category was on an upward trend, rose by 0.3 per cent to 3.02 million persons (January 2024: 3.01 million persons).”
In terms of the economic sector, the Services sector continued to register an increase in the number of employed persons, particularly in the Wholesale & retail trade; Food & beverage services; and Transportation & storage activities. The Manufacturing, Construction, Mining & quarrying and Agriculture sectors also saw a rise in the number of employed persons in February 2024.
On the unemployment situation in February 2024, Dr Mohd Uzir said, “The actively unemployed or those who were available for work and actively seeking jobs, encompassed 79.8 per cent of the total unemployed persons. This group recorded a marginal decrease of 0.04 per cent to 452.4 thousand persons (January 2024: 452.5 thousand persons). Among the actively unemployed, those who were unemployed for less than three months comprised 61.6 per cent while those who were in long-term unemployment for more than a year were 6.7 per cent.
“On the same note, those who believed that there were no jobs available or the inactively unemployed reduced by 0.1 per cent to 114.6 thousand persons (January 2024: 114.7 thousand persons).”
The unemployment rate among youth aged 15 to 24 years during the month remained unchanged at 10.6 per cent, with 306.6 thousand unemployed youths (January 2024: 10.6%; 306.8 thousand persons).
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 30 years was 6.6 per cent, registering the number of unemployed youths at 434.8 thousand persons (January 2024: 6.7%; 439.7 thousand persons). Concerning the inactivity group, there was a slight decrease of 0.01 per cent recorded in the number of persons outside the labour force in February 2024 compared to the previous month, totalling 7.23 million persons (January 2024: 7.23 million persons).
The main reason for being outside the labour force was due to housework/ family responsibilities, comprising 42.5 per cent, followed by schooling/ training reasons at 41.0 per cent. Concluding the statement, in line with the stable country’s economic situation, most of the economic sectors are anticipated to expand in 2024, with the Services and Manufacturing sectors set to be the key drivers of overall growth.
In addition, rising demand for professionals in business and administration services was observed as more firms launched e-commerce platforms, used social media for marketing, explored data analytics for efficiency, and adopted automation and digital systems.
Robust domestic demand, on the back of resilient household spending during the upcoming festive season, is also expected to support the hiring activities.
Therefore, the labour market position is foreseen to continue to grow in the following months, supported by continued demand for employment towards a better economy.
