PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 3.4 per cent in June 2023 from 3.5 per cent recorded in the previous month, according to the Statistics of the Labour Force, June and second quarter 2023 released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) on Thursday (Aug 10).
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Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin (pic) said the number of unemployed persons reduced to 581,700 from 584,600 persons previously.
He said Malaysia’s labour market remained stable in June 2023 contributed by the continuous increase in the number of employed persons, while the unemployed persons were on a downward trend despite the economic outlook being projected to expand moderately.
“Therefore, the number of the labour force in June 2023 strengthened further by 0.2 per cent to record 16.89 million persons from 16.86 million persons in May,” he said.
Mohd Uzir said June’s labour force participation rate (LFPR) meanwhile, was unchanged at 70 per cent, as recorded in last month.
Mohd Uzir said the number of employed persons in June 2023 remained on a positive trend with a month-on-month increase of 0.2 per cent to record 16.31 million persons in June 2023 compared to 16.28 million persons previously.
Out of the total employed persons in June 2023, 75.4 per cent were in the employees’ category which recorded an increase of 0.1 per cent to 12.30 million persons from 12.29 million persons in May 2023, he said.
The number of own-account workers also surged by 0.5 per cent to register 2.95 million persons from 2.94 million persons previously, he said.
By economic sector, Mohd Uzir said employment in the services sector remained on an upward trend, mainly in food and beverage services, wholesale and retail trade as well as transportation and storage activities.
He said the number of employed persons in the manufacturing, construction, mining and quarrying as well as agriculture sectors also exhibited increases during the month.
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He said the actively unemployed or those who were available for work and were actively seeking jobs, comprised 80.3 per cent of the total unemployed persons, and this category decreased by 0.8 per cent to 466,900 persons from 470,400 persons previously.
Among the actively unemployed, 61.1 per cent were those who were unemployed for less than three months, while 6.6 per cent were those who had been in long-term unemployment for more than a year, he said.
The inactively unemployed or those who believed that there were no jobs available, registered an increase of 0.5 per cent to 114,800 persons from 114,200 persons previously, he said.
The unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 years in June 2023 remained at 11 per cent recording 312,400 unemployed youths from 313,000 previously, while the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 30 years declined by 0.1 percentage points to record 6.9 per cent, with the number of unemployed youths at 446,800 persons from 448,600 persons previously, he said.
As for the inactivity group, the number of persons outside the labour force in June 2023 continued to reduce, with a marginal decrease of 0.02 per cent to 7.23 million persons from 7.23 million persons previously, he said.
“This was mainly due to housework or family responsibilities with 43.5 per cent, followed by the schooling or training category at 39.9 per cent,” he said.
Mohd Uzir said the overall performance for the second quarter of 2023, the number of the labour force continued to post an increase, with a rise of 0.5 per cent to 16.73 million persons from 16.65 million persons recorded in the first quarter.
He said the number of employed persons increased by 0.5 per cent to 16.15 million persons during the quarter from 16.06 million persons previously, while the number of unemployed persons declined by 0.9 per cent to 581,400 persons from 586,900 persons previously.
The unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2023 remained at 3.5 per cent as in the previous quarter, he said.
“The labour force’s position in the upcoming months is expected to continue to grow steadily in line with the expectations of Malaysia’s Leading Index, which anticipates a good economic outlook in the coming months,” he said.- Bernama