Overview

LABOUR FORCE IN MALAYSIA

The unemployment rate further escalated 1.6 percentage points

Labour force in Malaysia increased at a slower rate of 0.5 per cent while employed persons decreased by 1.3 per cent to 15.68 million persons and 14.88 million persons respectively as compared to the second quarter 2019.

The quarter-on-quarter comparison showed that labour force and employed persons decreased by 0.7 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively as compared to the previous quarter. Labour force participation rate (LFPR) in this quarter declined 0.7 percentage points to 68.1 per cent as compared to the first quarter of 2020. While, the working age population who are outside the labour force stood at 31.9 per cent.

The unemployment rate further escalated 1.6 percentage points quarter-on-quarter to 5.1 per cent as the number of unemployed persons enlarged by 245.2 thousand to record 791.8 thousand persons. This high unemployment rate is influenced by the deleterious impact of the Movement Control Order (MCO) on the labour market. (Exhibit 2)

Female LFPR decreased 0.8 percentage points to 55.0 per cent

Female LFPR in the second quarter 2020 was 55.0 per cent at the national level, dropped by 0.8 percentage points from the previous quarter. The highest female LFPR in the labour market was for the age group of  25 to 34 years (72.6%) followed by 35 to 44 years (67.3%) and 45 to 54 years (58.8%).

Male LFPR reduced by 0.6 percentage points to 80.2 per cent as compared to the previous quarter. The age group that recorded the highest male LFPR was
35 to 44 years (97.1%) followed by 25 to 34 years (95.6%) and 45 to 54 years (94.9%). (Exhibit 3)

Females represented 38.9 per cent of the labour force

In the second quarter of 2020, the labour force comprised 61.1 per cent males (9.58 million persons) and 38.9 per cent females (6.09 million persons). The number of labour force for males and females decreased by 42,517 persons and72,099 persons respectively as compared to the first quarter of 2020. (Exhibit 4)

The detailed information and technical notes are published in the Labour Force Survey Report, Malaysia, Second Quarter 2019. This report is accessible and downloadable free of charge through the eStatistik application in DOSM web page, www.dosm.gov.my.

Released By:

DATO' SRI DR. MOHD UZIR MAHIDIN
CHIEF STATISTICIAN MALAYSIA
DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS, MALAYSIA
7 August 2020

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