Unemployment Rate Unchanged, Employment Numbers Increase – DOSM

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) has just released a new Monthly Principal Statistics of Labour Force report. This provides some key insights into the state of the labour market.

According to the report, the number of employed persons remained on a positive trend with a month-on-month increase of 0.1 percent or equivalent to approximately 19.9 thousand persons to record 16.35 million persons in August 2023. August’s employment-to-population ratio, which indicates the ability of an economy to create employment, stood at 67.7 percent as in the previous month. 

Service sector continues with upwards trend

Going by individual economic sectors, the number of employed persons in the Services sector continues to see an upwards trend, largely in Wholesale & retail trade; Food & beverage services; and Transportation and storage activities. The Manufacturing, Agriculture, Construction as well as Mining & quarrying sectors also saw a modest increase in the number of employed persons during the month. 

The employee category made up the largest composition of employed persons at 75.4 percent, which is a 0.1 percent increase to 12.32 million persons. At the same time, the own-account workers also posted a rise of 7.9 thousand persons, a 0.3 percent increase. 

Unemployment rate is unchanged

As of August 2023, unemployment saw a small downwards trend, registering a fall of 0.3 percent to 577.3 thousand persons. However, this means that the unemployment rate remains unchanged at 3.4 percent as recorded last month. 

The report also noted that the labour force had seen some minor growth, increasing by 0.1 percent month-on-month to record 16.93 million persons. August’s labour force participation rate (LFPR) held steady at 70.1 percent as of July 2023.

Finally, the number of persons outside the labour force during the month registered an addition of 0.1 percent, an increase to around 7.23 million persons. The main reason for not participating in the workforce was due to housework/ family responsibilities with 42.9 percent, and subsequently, 40.1 percent because of schooling/ training.