Stats department: Labour market strengthens, unemployment drops

The labour market continued to strengthen last year, with the unemployment rate dropping to 3.9 percent and a higher employment rate, according to the Statistics of the Labour Force, Malaysia 2022 released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) today.

Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the positive economic environment throughout last year led to a favourable labour force situation last year, with the creation of more job opportunities in various industries.

“The recovery from the economic recession due to the Covid-19 pandemic reached a turning point this year, prompting positive changes and opening up more jobs in various industries.

“Additionally, the flex-working concept of working remotely and having flexible working arrangements has become commonplace. This gives more flexibility to employees and a (better) work-life balance,” he said.

He said the unemployment rate in 2022 decreased by 0.7 percent to 3.9 percent from 4.6 percent the previous year, with the number of unemployed persons down by 14 percent to 630,400 people compared to 733,000 people in 2021.

He said three states recorded higher unemployment rates than the national level in 2022, namely Sabah at 7.5 percent, Labuan (7.2 percent), and Perak (4.6 percent).

Uzir said that, in 2022, the labour force in Malaysia increased by 1.4 percent to 16.02 million people while the labour force participation rate was recorded at 69.3 percent.

The working population was 15.39 million people in 2022, which is an increase of 2.2 percent compared to 15.06 million in 2021, he said.

He said that in terms of employment status, the working population category was 78.3 percent comprising 12.05 million residents while the self-employed population covers 15.1 percent or around 2.33 million people.

The semi-skilled occupation category had the largest composition of 58.4 percent of total employment or 8.99 million people, followed by the skilled category (29.6 percent, 4.56 million) and the low-skilled category (12 percent, 1.84 million), he said.

Summing up the overall labour force situation in 2022, he said Malaysia’s economic growth is projected to be more moderate this year.

“The increase in the number of tourist arrivals will continue to boost the recovery in the tourism sub-sector along with the improved market position, especially in the service sector.

“Following economic activity that continues to grow in 2023, the labour market is expected to remain stable,” he said.

- Bernama

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