MALAYSIA’S unemployment rate edged down to 3.4% in June from 3.5% in the previous month, with unemployed people further reduced to 581,700 from 584,600, official data showed today, Xinhua reported.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that the country’s labour market remained stable in June, contributed by the continuous increase in the number of employed people.

Despite Malaysia’s economic outlook being projected to expand moderately, it said the unemployed people in the country were on a downward trend.

According to the DOSM, the number of the employed in June remained on a positive trend, with a month-on-month increase of 0.2% to 16.31 million persons.

Therefore, the labour force in June strengthened further by 0.2% to 16.89 million people.

Meanwhile, June’s labour force participation rate (LFPR) was unchanged at 70%.

For the second quarter of 2023, the labour force number continued to post an increase, with a rise of 0.5% to 16.73 million people as compared to the first quarter.

Accordingly, the LFPR rose by 0.2% points quarter-on-quarter to 70%.

The unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2023 remained at 3.5% as in the previous quarter.

The DOSM expects the labour force’s position in the upcoming months to continue to grow steadily in line with the expectations of Malaysia’s leading index, which anticipates a good economic outlook in the coming months. – Bernama, August 10, 2023.