Malaysia's unemployment rate drops slightly to 3.1 pct in Q1
Malaysia's unemployment rate for the first quarter decreased 0.1 percentage points to 3.1 percent compared to the previous quarter, official data showed Friday, Xinhua reports.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that the number of unemployed persons during the quarter showed a quarter-on-quarter decline of 2.3 percent to 526,300 persons.
Meanwhile, the labor force in the first quarter experienced a quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.8 percent to 17.23 million persons.
The labor force participation rate rose 0.1 percentage points to reach 70.7 percent during the quarter, compared to 70.6 percent in the previous quarter.
Reflecting this trend, the number of employed persons rose 0.9 percent to 16.70 million persons compared to the previous quarter.
"In the upcoming months, the Malaysian labor market is anticipated to continue to expand due to strong labor demand, coupled with several strategic initiatives taken to ensure the stability of the labor market by 2025," said the DOSM.
"Thus, in line with this, the country's labor market condition is seen to continue to be optimistic and able to expand briskly and be resilient in encountering the worldwide economic uncertainties," it added.
Earlier it was reported that the EU’s employment rate had reached 75.8% in 2024.
