PUTRAJAYA - Malaysia's unemployment rate remained at 3.6 per cent in December 2022, with the number of unemployed persons declining to 599,600 persons from 600,900 persons in November 2022, according to the Statistics of Labour Force, Malaysia, Fourth Quarter and December 2022 released today.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the number of the labour force in December increased by 0.1 per cent to record 16.73 million persons compared to 16.71 million persons in November, while the labour force participation rate (LFPR) was at 69.8 per cent as compared to the previous month.
In a statement today, he said the number of employed persons remained on a positive trend, with a month-on-month increase of 0.1 per cent to record 16.13 million persons in December 2022 compared to 16.11 million persons in November.
Mohd Uzir said the employees' category made up the largest percentage of the total employed persons in December 2022, contributing 75.8 per cent to register 12.23 million persons compared to 12.21 million persons in the previous month.
Likewise, the own-account worker's category continued to increase, recording 2.86 million persons in December 2022 from 2.85 million persons in the previous month, he said.
On the employed persons by economic sector, Mohd Uzir said the services sector continued to record a positive growth in employment, largely in wholesales and retail trade, food and beverage services activities as well as information and communication activities.
The unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 years fell to 11.8 per cent in December 2022, registering 331,000 thousand unemployed youths compared to 329,3000 persons in the previous month, while the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 30 years decreased to 6.9 per cent to record 444,500 unemployed youths from 453,100 persons, he said.
As for the unemployment rate and the LFPR by states, Mohd Uzir said most of the states posted a reduction in the unemployment rate except for Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka and Putrajaya.
He said the lowest unemployment rate during the quarter was in Putrajaya at 1.6 per cent, followed by Perlis (2.2 per cent), Pulau Pinang (2.3 per cent), Johor (2.4 per cent) and Negeri Sembilan (2.6 per cent).
Nine states registered increases in LFPR which indicates higher labour participation in the market with the highest observed in Putrajaya at 77.6 per cent, followed by Selangor at 75.9 per cent and Penang (71.8 per cent), Sabah (70.6 per cent) and Sarawak (69.8 per cent). - BERNAMA