PUTRAJAYA, Aug 12 — The country’s labour market performance is projected to improve in the second quarter of this year with the unemployment rate estimated at 4.6 per cent compared to 4.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2020.
The projection is contained in the “Quarterly Labour Market Perspectives-Stabilisation of Labour Market in the Post-Crisis Periods” report, issued by the Social Security Organisation (Socso), which is under the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR), today.
Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said the report found that the labour market performance in the first quarter of 2021 showed a stable recovery situation after the unemployment rate remained unchanged and stable at an average rate of 4.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2020.
“This stability is supported by a decline in the job loss rate among private sector workers which declined by 12 per cent,” he said in a statement on the labour market report.
Saravanan said the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) in the first quarter of this year did not affect the country’s labour market, as a result of a more targeted approach to the implementation of the MCO.
“However, some segments of the labour market are still affected and are in the early phases of recovery, especially the informal employment sector and tourism sector,” he said.
Saravanan said the report also found that the job market recovery for the first quarter of 2021 was in the form of a ‘trapezoid’ which reflected the trend of persistent imbalance between jobseekers and job opportunities.
“This shows that the country’s labour market situation has not changed compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, where there is an excess supply of workers compared to the existing vacancies.
“Job creation for the professional, manager, executive and technician (PMET) categories is projected to grow slowly compared to the number of jobseekers for the same category,” he said.
The report, prepared by the EIS-UPMCS Centre for Future Labour Market Studies (EU-ERA), a collaborative research centre between Socso’s Employment Insurance System Office and Universiti Putra Malaysia Consultancy & Services (UPMCS), can be obtained at https://eiscentre.perkeso.gov.my.
Saravanan said the impact of the MCO’s full implementation from June 1 on the labour market could only be seen in the third quarter of this year.
According to him, government initiatives such as the Subsidised Wage Programme (PSU) 4.0, PenjanaKerjaya 3.0 and Jobseeking Allowance under the National People’s Well-Being and Economic Recovery Package (Pemulih) are expected to help reduce the impact of the full MCO implementation.
He said the MOHR would implement various appropriate interventions to further intensify the country’s recovery process, especially in catalysing the country’s labour market. — Bernama
