Third quarter labour productivity up 2.9 pct

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s labour productivity rose by 2.9 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in the third quarter of 2018 (Q3 2018), said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

During the period, the country’s Gross Domestic Product expanded by 4.4 per cent y-o-y and employment also increased by 2.6 per cent y-o-y.

In a statement yesterday, the DoSM said labour productivity in the agriculture sector moderated to 1.4 per cent in Q3 2018, and in terms of value added, the sector posted a negative growth of 1.4 per cent while hours worked decreased by 2.7 per cent.

“Meanwhile, labour productivity by value added per employment dropped 1.9 per cent as employment increased 0.6 per cent,” it said.

Labour productivity also decreased 2.9 per cent y-o-y in the mining and quarrying sector, while value added declined to a negative 4.6 per cent and hours worked fell by 1.7 per cent.

The growth of labour productivity by employment moderated to 0.8 per cent while employment dropped 5.3 per cent, DoSM said.

In the manufacturing sector, labour productivity rose 2.4 per cent, with value added registering a 5.0 per cent growth.

Hours worked also increased 2.6 per cent in the sector, while labour productivity by employment grew by 2.2 per cent as employment increased by 2.7 per cent.

The construction sector saw labour productivity moderating to 4.3 per cent, while value added grew 4.6 per cent.

The department said labour productivity in the services sector increased 5.1 per cent, with value added expanding by 7.2 per cent and hours worked rising 2.0 per cent.

“Labour productivity expressed as the ratio of value added to employment posted a better performance of 3.9 per cent as employment grew 3.2 per cent during the quarter,” it added. — Bernama