PUTRAJAYA - The number of unemployed persons in Malaysia continued to decrease in January this year with a reduction of 0.6 per cent to 596,100 persons compared to 599,600 persons in December 2022, according to the Statistics of Labour Force Malaysia.
It said Malaysia’s unemployment rate in January this year remained at 3.6 per cent.
Commenting on the statistics, Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in January, the country's labour market continued on an upward trend following the current improvement of the country’s economic position, in keeping with the expansion of the global economy.
Therefore, he said the number of the labour force in January has improved further, increasing by 0.2 per cent month-on-month to 16.76 million persons compared to 16.73 million persons in December 2022.
The labour force participation rate during the month remained at 69.8 per cent.
"The positive scenario was contributed by an increase in the number of employed persons, whereas the number of unemployed persons continued to decrease,” he said in a statement.
Mohd Uzir said the number of employed persons in January further increased by 0.2 per cent month-on-month to record 16.16 million persons compared to 16.13 million persons in December 2022.
On the employment situation, he said the employees’ category accounted for 75.7 per cent of the total employed persons in January 2023 as it recorded a marginal increase of 0.1 per cent, reaching a total of 12.24 million persons compared to 12.23 million persons in December 2022.
"A similar trend was observed in the own-account workers, with an increase of 0.6 per cent to record 2.88 million persons (December 2022: 2.86 million persons),” he said.
In terms of the economic sector, Mohd Uzir said the number of employed persons in the services sector continued to increase, largely in wholesale & retail trade; food & beverage services; and administrative & support service activities.
A similar trend of employment was also observed in the manufacturing, construction and mining & quarrying sectors, as well as in the agriculture sector, he added. - BERNAMA