Malaysia’s unemployment rate edged down to 3.4 percent in June from 3.5 percent in the previous month, with unemployed people further reduced to 581,700 from 584,600, official data showed Thursday.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that Malaysia’s labor market remained stable in June, contributed by the continuous increase in the number of employed people.
Despite Malaysia’s economic outlook being projected to expand moderately, it said the unemployed people in the country were on a downward trend.
According to the DOSM, the number of the employed in June remained on a positive trend, with a month-on-month increase of 0.2 percent to 16.31 million persons.
Therefore, the number of the labor force in June strengthened further by 0.2 percent to 16.89 million people.
Meanwhile, June’s labor force participation rate (LFPR) was unchanged at 70 percent.
For the second quarter of 2023, the number of the labor force continued to post an increase, with a rise of 0.5 percent to 16.73 million people as compared to the first quarter.
Accordingly, the LFPR rose by 0.2 percentage points quarter on quarter to 70 percent.
The unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2023 remained at 3.5 percent as in the previous quarter.
The DOSM expects the labor force’s position in the upcoming months to continue to grow steadily in line with the expectations of Malaysia’s leading index, which anticipates a good economic outlook in the coming months.