Malaysia’s labour market sees positive trend

Illustrative image (Photo: malaymail.com)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia’s labour market continued an upward trend following an improvement of the country’s economic situation, which is in line with the recovery of the global economy, according to Director of the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) Mohd Uzir Mahidin.

The number of labourers in January rose by 0.2% month-on-month to 16.76 million, he said in a press release on March 9.

The labour force participation rate during the month remained at 69.8%.

Regarding the employment situation, he said the employees' category accounted for 75.7% of the total employed persons in January this year, an increase of 0.1% compared to the previous month, reaching a total of 12.24 million persons.

A similar tendency was seen in the own-account workers, with an increase of 0.6% to a record 2.88 million persons, the official said.

In terms of the economic sector, Mohd Uzir said the number of employed persons in the services sector continued to increase, largely in wholesale & retail trade; food & beverage services; and administrative and support service activities, he said, adding that a similar trend was also reported in the manufacturing, construction and mining and quarrying as well as agriculture sectors.

According to the DOSM director, the number of unemployed persons declined by 0.5% to 481,600 in January.

The unemployment rate among youths aged 15-24  fell from 11.8% in December 2022 to 11.5% in January this year, equivalent to 328,800 people./.