PUTRAJAYA, May 20 — Malaysia’s labour productivity per employee in the first quarter of 2021 (Q1 2021) experienced a marginal decline of 0.4 per cent compared to a negative 2.9 recorded in Q4 2020, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Elaborating on the Labour Productivity report for the Q1 2021, DOSM chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin in a statement today said the marginal decline in labour productivity in Q1 2021 was the smallest drop since the country’s labour productivity began to decline in Q1 2020.

According to him, in Q1 2021, gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.5 per cent with15.2 million employees on record, so the value added per employee in the Q1 was RM22,516 per employee.

"During the quarter, the economic situation was still affected by efforts to curb (the) Covid-19 (pandemic) through the movement control order (MCO),” he said in a statement, today.

On labour productivity performance measured by the value added per hour worked, Mohd Uzir said a total of 8.5 billion hours worked were recorded in Q1 2021 compared to 8.6 billion hours recorded in Q4 2020.

Labour productivity measured by value added per hour worked in Q1 2021 was RM40.2 per hour compared to RM40 per hour in Q1 2020, he added.

Mohd Uzir said the manufacturing sector recorded an increase in labour productivity per employee for three consecutive quarters, and increased by 5.9 per cent in Q1 2021, and 3.2 per cent in Q4 2020.

He said for labour productivity by value added per hour worked, the manufacturing sector recorded the highest growth of 8.5 per cent compared to six per cent in Q4 2020.

According to him, four manufacturing sub-sectors recorded double-digit growth, namely beverages and tobacco products (22.8 per cent), transport equipment, other manufacturing and repair (12.9 per cent), wood products, furniture, paper products and printing (12.8 per cent) and electrical, electronic and optical products (11.3 per cent).

The construction sector experienced the largest decline in labour productivity per hour worked, namely negative 8.6 per cent in the Q1 2021 compared to negative 6.7 per cent in the previous quarter. — Bernama