THE unemployment rate in the country continues to improve as the figures showed a downward trend in February this year, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said today.

Attributing this to the improving economic development, DOSM’s chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the number of unemployed in February stood at 591,900 as compared to 596,100 in January 2023.

“The position of the country’s labour market continues to be stable in line with the current economic developments,” Uzir said in a statement today.

“In this regard, the number of labour force in February 2023 was on an increasing trend, with a month-on-month increase of 0.2% to 16.78 million persons compared to 16.76 million persons in January.

“This recorded a higher labour force participation rate at 69.9% in February compared to 69.8% in January.

“This encouraging situation was attributed to the continuous addition in the number of employed persons,” he added.

Uzir said that by economic sector, the number of employed persons in the services sector continued to increase.

“This is particularly in the food and beverage sector, wholesale and retail trade, and administration and support service activities.

“The number of employed persons in the manufacturing, construction, mining & quarrying and agriculture sectors also denoted the same trend,” he said.

Uzir said the current unemployment rate as of February 2023 is 3.5%.

“The actively unemployed or those who were available for work and were actively seeking jobs, encompassed 80.3% of the total unemployed persons in February 2023.

“Out of the total actively unemployed, those unemployed for less than three months comprised 61%, while those in long-term unemployment for more than a year was 6.3%,” he said.

Uzir said the department foresees a demand for workers in the coming months.

“Growth in all sectors of the economy and the need for more workers to support high domestic demand will lead to an increase in demand for labour.

“Therefore, the momentum of the labour market recovery is anticipated to continue in line with the expected trend of national economic growth, which remains favourable in 2023.

“The labour market is expected to continue its steady growth momentum in the following months, corresponding to the current economic performance,” Uzir added. – April 10, 2023.