Malaysia’s labour market continues to improve. (Photo: malaymail.com) According to a report by the United Overseas Bank, thelabour force expanded for the 14th straight month, by 30,500 or a 0.2% increasemonth-on-month, to the largest ever size of 16.63 million, lifting the labourforce participation rate to 69.7% in August.
The gain in total employment was again driven byincreased hiring in services (particularly food and beverages services,wholesale and retail trade, and administrative and support service activities),manufacturing, and construction sectors. Agriculture and mining and quarryingsectors continued to trim headcounts.
The employment-to-population ratio, which indicatesthe ability of an economy to create employment, surpassed pre-pandemic highlevel for four months in a row at 67.1%.
UOB projected unemployment rate to come in at 3.5% byend-2022 and 3.2% by end-2023, resting upon a projected economic expansion of4% next year./.
VNA
