SOME 12,000 jobs were created in the second quarter of 2020 despite the weak economy, due to Covid-19 and soft labour demand, the Statistics Department said.

Most of these jobs were in semi-skilled categories, chief statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement.

The employment rate also grew marginally by 0.1%, compared to the previous quarter, but represented a 0.5% drop to 2% when compared year-on-year.

There were 170,000 vacancies in the private sector in the second quarter, Uzir added, with more than half of them semi-skilled jobs.

By economic activity, at 55.1% most vacancies were in the manufacturing sector, in particular, computers, electronics, optical products, rubber and plastics, chemical and pharmaceutical products, and food products.

Another 17% of vacancies were in the services sector, mainly in wholesale and retail trade, land transport, warehousing, support activities for transportation, food and beverages, finance and insurance.

There was also a significant number of job vacancies in agriculture sector, largely in crops and animal production, including oil palm.

In terms of cuts, 200,000 jobs were lost in the private sector in the second quarter of this year, a drop from 8.6 million jobs to 8.4 million.

The drop in demand for labour was caused by movement curbs throughout April and strict Covid-19 standard operating procedures imposed on businesses during relaxed movement restrictions in the following months, the department said. – August 13, 2020.