KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — The labour market continued to strengthen last year with the unemployment rate dropping to 3.9 per cent and a higher employment rate, according to the Statistics of the Labour Force, Malaysia 2022 released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) today.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the positive economic environment throughout last year led to a favourable labour force situation last year, with the creation of more job opportunities in various industries.

"The recovery from the economic recession due to the Covid-19 pandemic reached a turning point this year, prompting positive changes and opening up more jobs in various industries.

"Additionally, the flex-working concept of working remotely and having flexible working arrangements has become commonplace. This gives more flexibility to employees and a (better) work-life balance,” he said.

He said the unemployment rate in 2022 decreased by 0.7 per cent to 3.9 per cent from 4.6 per cent the previous year, with the number of unemployed persons down by 14 per cent to 630,400 people compared to 733,000 people in 2021.

He said three states recorded higher unemployment rates than the national level in 2022, namely Sabah at 7.5 per cent, Labuan (7.2 per cent) and Perak (4.6 per cent).

Mohd Uzir said that, in 2022, the labour force in Malaysia increased by 1.4 per cent to 16.02 million people while the labour force participation rate was recorded at 69.3 per cent.

The working population was 15.39 million people in 2022, which is an increase of 2.2 per cent compared to 15.06 million in 2021, he said.

He said that in terms of employment status, the working population category was 78.3 per cent comprising 12.05 million residents while the number of self-employed population covers 15.1 per cent with the involvement of 2.33 million people.

The semi-skilled occupation category had the largest composition of 58.4 per cent of total employment or 8.99 million people, followed by the skilled category (29.6 per cent, 4.56 million) and the low-skilled category (12 per cent, 1.84 million), he said.

Summing up the overall labour force situation in 2022, he said Malaysia’s economic growth is projected to be more moderate this year.

"The increase in the number of tourist arrivals will continue to boost the recovery in the tourism sub-sector along with the improved market position, especially in the service sector.

"Following economic activity that continues to grow in 2023, the labour market is expected to remain stable,” he said. — Bernama