THE Malaysian labour market continued to strengthen, recording 3.7% unemployment in July 2022, nearing pre-pandemic levels, according to the publication of the labour force statistics.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) 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 decreased to 620,700 people in July 2022 compared to 630,600 people in the preceding month, while the number of employed people in July 2022 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 2022 also improved following a continuous increase in the number of workers by 0.2% month-on-month recording 16.6 million people.

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 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, such as the JaminKerja-Wage Incentive (JKIP) and creation of the national employment portal, MyFutureJobs,” he said.

He said 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.