KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — The number of unemployed persons in the country in January has declined to 680,400, bringing the unemployment rate to stand at 4.2 per cent, according to Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
He said the number was lowered by 1.1 per cent from 687,600 recorded in December last year.
“The labour force situation continued to improve in January 2022 led by the continuous rise in employment while unemployed persons trended down,” he said in a statement on the Statistics of Labour Force in Malaysia for January 2022 here today.
Mohd Uzir said the positive month-on-month growth of employed persons continued in January 2022 with 0.2 per cent to record 15.69 million persons compared to 15.65 million persons in December 2021.
“The employment-to-population ratio which indicates the ability of an economy to create employment also rose by 0.1 percentage point to 66.2 per cent in January 2022 as compared to 66.1 per cent in the previous month,” he said.
The number of labour force in January 2022 remained positive with an addition of 30.2 thousand persons or 0.2 per cent month-on-month to register 16.37 million persons, hence increasing January’s labour force participation rate (LFPR) to 69.1 per cent from December 2021’s rate of 69.0 per cent.
“The situation reflects the encouraging economic activities observed in January 2022 since all states being in Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan which allowed businesses to continue operating at full capacity with longer business hours,” he said.
Mohd Uzir said of the total 680,400 unemployed persons recorded in January, 83.7 per cent were those who were available for work and were actively seeking jobs or the actively unemployed.
By economic sector, the number of employed persons in services persistently recorded a month-on-month increase, particularly in food and beverages services, wholesale and retail trade, and information and communication activities.
A similar trend was observed in the manufacturing and construction sectors with the number of employment remaining on the rise, while the employment in agriculture and mining and quarrying sectors was on a declining trend for the past 18 months.
“A healthier economic outlook is anticipated in the months ahead reflecting by the Leading Index which is continuously above 100.0 points and rising in December 2021. This positive outlook will lead to the increase in the business’ activities, thus creating more labour demand in the economy.
“With more job opportunities created, will encourage more labour participation, hence fostering the labour market to be more vibrant in the forthcoming months,” he said. — Bernama
