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KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian labour market continued to strengthen, recording 3.7% in July 2022 and nearing pre-pandemic levels, according to the published Labour Force Statistics report.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the achievement was much better compared to the 4.5% recorded in 2021 and 4.2% in January 2022.
The number of unemployed persons continued to decrease to 620,700 people in July compared to 630,600 people in the preceding month, while the number of employed people in July continued to record a positive growth of 0.3% to 15.98 million people, he said.
“According to the economic sector, the number of people working in the service sector is increasing, especially in food and beverage service activities; wholesale and retail trade; administrative activities, and support services.
“Employment in the manufacturing and construction sectors also showed an increase, except for the agriculture as well as mining and quarrying sectors, which recorded a decrease in employment,” he said in a statement today.
Mustapa said the position of the labour force in July also improved following a continuous increase in the number of workers by 0.2% month-on-month, recording 16.60 million people.
Therefore, the higher labour force participation rate was recorded in that month at 69.6%, he said.
He said the achievement of a stronger labour market was supported by an improved economic position for the second quarter of 2022 with economic growth strengthening at 8.9%.
For the first half of 2022, the national economy grew by 6.9%.
“Increased economic and social activities that have returned to normal, especially following the opening of national borders since April 1, 2022, have had a positive impact on the country’s labour market, which has created more job and business opportunities.
“The labour market recovery momentum is also in line with the implementation of government initiatives under the leadership of the prime minister, such as the JaminKerja wage incentive initiative, and the creation of the national employment portal, MyFutureJobs,” he said.
Mustapa said the government will continue with efforts to increase employment opportunities and improve the well-being of the public.
He predicted the labour market will continue to strengthen during the third quarter of the year with better business performance expected.
“The confidence indicator recorded 4.7% for the third quarter of 2022 compared to 3.5% in the second quarter.
“This shows that the economic situation is expected to be better in the third quarter of this year,” he added. – Bernama, September 9, 2022