Unemployment rate remained at 3.3% in February, says Stats Dept

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s unemployment rate remained at 3.3% in February 2024, registering a lower number of unemployed individuals at 567,000 persons, according to the Labour Force statistics from the Statistics Department Malaysia (DOSM).

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that the country’s labour force position remained stable in February 2024 in line with the development of current economic activities, recording a continuing positive trend in the number of employed persons while the number of unemployed persons dropped slightly.

“Therefore, the number of workers during the month continued to record a month-on-month increase, with an addition of 0.1% to 17.07 million persons compared to 17.05 million people in January 2024.

“The labour force participation rate in Februray stood at 70.2% as recorded in the preceding month,” he said in a statement Monday (April 8).

Mohd Uzir also said that the number of employed persons continued to increase, with a month-on-month rise of 0.2% to 16.51 million persons compared to 16.48 million people in January 2024.

However, the number of unemployed persons during the month continued to register a downward trend, with a marginal decrease of 0.1% to 567,000, compared to 567,300 in January 2024, registering a 3.3% unemployment rate as in the prior month.

Elaborating, Mohd Uzir said, out of the total employed persons in February 2024, 75.2% were in the employees’ category, which recorded a slight increase of 0.1% to 12.41 million persons compared to 12.39 million persons in the previous month.

Similarly, the upward trend was also seen in the own-account workers category, which increased by 0.3% to 3.02 million persons compared to 3.01 million persons in January.

In terms of the economic sector, the Services sector continued to register an increase in the number of employed persons, particularly in the wholesale and retail trade; food and beverage services; and transportation and storage activities.

“The manufacturing, construction, mining and quarrying and agriculture sectors also saw a rise in the number of employed persons in February 2024,” he said.

Mohd Uzir said that, in line with the country’s stable economic situation, most of the economic sectors are anticipated to expand in 2024, with the services and manufacturing sectors set to be the key drivers of overall growth.

“In addition, rising demand for professionals in business and administration services was observed as more firms launched e-commerce platforms, used social media for marketing, explored data analytics for efficiency, and adopted automation and digital systems,” he said.

He added that robust domestic demand, on the back of resilient household spending during the upcoming festive season, is also expected to support the hiring activities.

Therefore, Mohd Uzir said the labour market position is foreseen to continue to grow in the following months, supported by continued demand for employment towards a better economy. – BK