Article 1

Malaysia unemployment rate expected to hit 4% this year due to Covid-19

Justin Lim / theedgemarkets.com
April 03, 2020 12:50 pm +08

KUALA LUMPUR (April 3): Amid the Covid-19 pandemic this year, Malaysia's unemployment
rate is expected to shoot up to 4% this year, from 3.3% in 2019, said Bank Negara Malaysia
(BNM).
Labour market conditions, in general, are expected to be weak this year, affected by the Covid-
19 pandemic.
“We expect the labour market to be considerably weaker and the unemployment rate to increase
to about 4% in 2020.
“In comparison, during the global financial crisis, our unemployment rate was at 3.7% in 2009,
while during the Asian financial crisis in 1998, the unemployment rate was at 3.2%,” BNM
assistant governor Marzunisham Omar told a virtual press conference today.
However, he reiterated that the stimulus package introduced by the government may partially
offset the impact as the booster shot was intended to assist the workers, households and
businesses to go through this difficult period.
“Through the measures implemented by the government, we want to avoid a permanent impact
on businesses and workers. This way, once Covid-19 is controlled, business activity can be
resumed. The faster we contain the outbreak, the faster we can help businesses to resume
operations and rehire workers. This will help the labour market to recover faster,” he added.
The unemployment rate has been stable at around 3.3% to 3.4% during the last four years, from
2016 to 2019.
Last year, Malaysia’s employment grew by 2.1%, compared with 2.5% in 2018, mainly driven
by the services sector, followed by the manufacturing and agriculture sectors. The growth
translated to an additional employment gain of 316,000 persons, according to BNM’s Economic
and Monetary Review 2019 report.
Meanwhile, retrenchments rose to 29,605 persons per annum, compared to 23,168 persons in
2018. Overall, the unemployment rate remained stable at 3.3% in 2019.
Despite being softer than the year before, the central bank said the labour market conditions
remained supportive of growth in 2019.
From a skill-level perspective, the employment growth in 2019 was mainly driven by high and
low-skilled workers, which grew by 3.9% and 6.5% respectively.
“Mid-skilled workers continued to account for the largest share of total employed persons at
59.5% (2018: 60.4%), followed by high-skilled workers at 27.6% (2018: 27.2%),” it added.
Article 2
Malaysia unemployment rate escalates to 5.3% in May
Arjuna Chandran Shankar / theedgemarkets.com
July 14, 2020 12:00 pm +08
KUALA LUMPUR (July 14): Malaysia’s unemployment rate increased to 5.3% in May 2020
from 5% in April 2020 as the number of unemployed persons rose by 47,300 to 826,100
individuals, according to the Statistics Department today.

In a statement, the department's chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the
monthly change of unemployed persons in May 2020 was very much lower than the change
registered from March to April at 168,300 people.

"The reduction could partly be due to the implementation of numerous stimulus packages
reaching its intended target in addition to more businesses were allowed to operate following the
conditional movement control order (CMCO) during the month.

“The economic indicators for May 2020 showed improvement as compared to April 2020 and
these signaled that the economy is gradually improving. Following this, despite the continuous
negative trend in the labour supply up to May 2020, this situation has improved considerably as
compared to April 2020.

"It is expected that as the recovery movement control order (RMCO) took effect on June 10,
2020 onwards, the business conditions would gradually recover as more sectors are allowed to
open with strict standard operating procedures. The implementation may allow businesses to
regain their momentum, while new business opportunities emerge as demand changes amidst the
new norm.

"This in turn is expected to retain employment, create new jobs and spur hiring. With this
development, in the short term, labour force situation in June is expected to improve slightly
while in the medium term up to the second half of 2020, further progress is deemed possible.
Through various initiatives by the government, in addition to new creative businesses models
innovated, the labour market may find its way to a recovery path,” he said.

Malaysia's May 2020 labour force rose by 1,800 persons to 15.71 million people from a month
earlier, according to Mohd Uzir.

Year-on-year, the May 2020 labour force recorded an increase of 71,700 persons, he said.
"The labour force participation rate in May 2020 stood at 68.1%, registering a decline of 0.1
percentage point month-on-month as outflows into outside labour force continued to increase.

"As for outside labour force in May 2020, (the segment) increased 0.6%, recording inflows of
47,000 persons as against April 2020. This brought the total number to 7.39 million persons. The
largest share of 43.4% was outside labour force due to housework/family responsibilities, with
the number in this category increasing by 1.0% from April 2020. This was followed by a share of
39.1% who were schooling," he said.

Article 3

Unemployment to drop to 4.5% by year-end

Monday, 14 Sep 20201:47 PM MYT
KUALA LUMPUR: The unemployment rate in Malaysia is expected to ease further to 4.5
percent by year-end, according to United Overseas Bank (M) Bhd.

Its senior economist Julia Goh said Malaysia’s labor market continued to improve with the
unemployment rate falling for the second straight month to 4.7 per cent in July from 4.9 per cent
in June and the peak of 5.3 per cent in May.

She said the total labor force increased by 55,000 persons (month-on-month) to 15.82 million
people in July as a result of the reopening of more economic sectors under the Recovery
Movement Control Order including tourism, education, entertainment and recreational activities.

"The entrance of new graduates and workers returning to seek employment as economic
conditions continue to improve should see a higher labor force participation rate in the coming
months,” she said in a note today.

She said most economic sectors posted an increase in hiring in July, led by the services sector
particularly accommodation; food and beverages; and transport and storage activities.

"The increase in employment in the manufacturing sector was led by electrical and electronics,
metal related, printing, plastic, motor vehicles, and rubber products sub-industries.

"Despite recent labor market indicators showing signs of improvement, we expect hurdles ahead
as some of the relief measures, namely the Wage Subsidy Programme and six-month blanket
loan moratorium expire end of this month,” she said.

The loan moratorium and repayment assistance thereafter would be extended on a targeted basis
to those still affected by COVID-19.

"This will help pace the transition from broad temporary relief measures and avert another wave
of business closures and layoffs, Goh said. - Bernama
Article 4
Malaysia Aug 2020 labour force expands but unemployment rate stays at 4.7%
Arjuna Chandran Shankar/theedgemarkets.com
October 13, 2020 12:00 pm +08

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 13): Malaysia’s August 2020 unemployment rate remained
at 4.7% compared to the preceding month based on the nation’s estimated 741,600
unemployed persons against an expanded labour force of about 15.9 million people as
the country contended with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the
Statistics Department today.

Malaysia chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement
today the number of unemployed persons in August 2020 decreased 0.5% to about
741,600 persons compared to July 2020.

"With the employed and unemployed persons situation in August 2020, the labour
force during the month was 15.9 million persons (July 2020: 15.82 million persons).

“As the economic sectors continue to reopen, August 2020 saw Malaysia’s labour
force situation improved further. Nevertheless, the continuous improvement will (be)
subject to the Covid-19 situation in the country,” Mohd Uzir said.

According to him, August 2020 employment continued to increase, reflecting the

resumption of more economic activities starting July 2020.

He said these include tourism, education as well as arts, entertainment and

recreational activities. 

"During the month, the number of employed persons went up by 0.5% to 15.15
million persons following jobs gain in services sector particularly in wholesale and
retail trade, accommodation, and food and beverages as well as information and
communication activities. 

"In line with this, the employment-to-population ratio which indicates the ability of an
economy to create employment increased 0.3 percentage points month-on-month to
65.2% (July 2020: 64.9%),” he said.
 Graph of Malaysia’s Unemployment Rate: 2020 January-August

Unemployment Rate (%)

Time (Month)

Graph of Unemployed Person in Malaysia: 2020 January – August

Number of Person (Thousand)

 Graph of Malaysia’s Unemployment Rate: 2019

Unemployment Rate (%)

Time (Month)

Graph of Unemployed Person in Malaysia: 2019

Number of Person (Thousand)

Time (Month)

Time (Month)
 Graph of Malaysia's Unemployment Rate by State: 2018
Male Female
16

14

12 8.9

10
Unemployment rate (%)

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6 3.2
4.3
3.8 4.6 3.9 3.5 3.6
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4 3.8 7.3
2
4.9 1.6
4.7
2 3.4 3.5
2.6 2.7 2.6 2.7 3.2 3.1
2.5 1.1 1.9 2.2 1.9
0.7
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