MALAYSIA’S labour market rebounded in the first quarter of 2022, adding 148,520 jobs compared with the previous corresponding period to record 8.57 million positions, while the quarter-on-quarter figure was up by 41,400, chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said.

He said the 8.57 million jobs were recorded in the economic sector as businesses continued to operate during the National Recovery Plan phases.

This was also in tandem with further expansion in global and domestic activities, fuelled by broader vaccination coverage and an improvement in merchandise trade.

“The number of filled jobs in this quarter (Q1 2022) went up by 142,060 to register 8.39 million jobs against 8.25 million jobs in the first quarter of 2021,” he said in a statement today following the release of the Employment Statistics, First Quarter 2022 report.

The report presents the labour demand statistics, encompassing jobs, filled jobs, vacancies and jobs created indicators by skill categories and economic activities.

Uzir said the manufacturing and services sectors recorded growth of 3.6%, compared with 2.7% and 1.9% respectively in Q1 2021.

Filled jobs were largely in the semi-skilled category, recording 5.24 million jobs, or 62.5%, followed by the skilled category (2.07 million; 24.7%) and low-skilled category (1.07 million; 12.8%), he said.

Uzir said the number of job vacancies has been rising year-on-year for two consecutive quarters, posting an increase of 6,460 positions to 184,320 in Q1 2022 (Q1 2021: 177,850).

He said the labour market had gradually recovered consequent to the resumption of most economic and social activities, with the number of jobs created surging to 25,840 during this quarter.

“For the record, this is the highest number recorded during the pandemic period and at the same time, surpasses the pre-pandemic level, which recorded an average of 25,000 jobs created,” he added. – Bernama, May 11, 2022.