Overview

• In April 2023, the number of employed persons continued its upward trajectory, experiencing a growth of 0.2 per cent, equivalent to an addition of 28.4 thousand persons. This brought the total employed persons to 16.25 million persons, compared to the previous month (March 2023: 16.22 million persons). The employment-to-population ratio, which indicates the ability of an economy to create employment, remained at 67.5 per cent during the month (March 2023: 67.5%). 
  

• Analysis by economic sector shows that the number of employed persons in the Services sector remained on an increasing trend, particularly in Wholesale & retail trade; Food & beverage services, and Information & communication activities. Employment in the Manufacturing, Construction, and Agriculture sectors also posted increases. In contrast, the number of employed persons in the Mining & quarrying sector recorded a decline during the month.
  

• During the month, the employees’ category which comprised 75.5 per cent of the total employed persons, recorded a month-on-month increase of 0.1 per cent (+11.7 thousand persons) to 12.28 million persons (March 2023: 12.26 million persons). A similar trend was observed in the number of own-account workers, which rose by 0.4 per cent (+11.9 thousand persons) to 2.92 million persons as compared to 2.91 million persons in March 2023 over the same period.
  

• The number of unemployed persons in April 2023 decreased further, registering a month-on-month decline of 0.3 per cent (-1.8 thousand persons) to 586.9 thousand persons from 588.7 thousand persons recorded in March 2023. The unemployment rate in April stood at 3.5 per cent (March 2023: 3.5%). 
  

• The number of labour force in April 2023 continued to trend up, with an addition of 26.7 thousand persons (+0.2%) to record 16.84 million persons (March 2023: 16.81 million persons). Accordingly, the labour force participation rate (LFPR) during the month edged up by 0.1 percentage points to 70.0 per cent (March 2023: 69.9%), indicating more labour participation in the market. 
  

• In April 2023, the number of persons outside the labour force recorded a marginal decline of 0.03 per cent (-2.4 thousand persons) to 7.23 million persons (March 2023: 7.23 million persons). Housework/ family responsibilities were among the main reasons for the outside labour force with a share of 43.6 per cent, followed by schooling/ training category (40.5%).
  

The full publication of the Labour Force Report, April 2023 can be downloaded through eStatistik Portal.

Released by:

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS MALAYSIA

09 JUNE 2023

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Baharudin Mohamad

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