177,900 job vacancies recorded in Q1

PUTRAJAYA: There were 177,900 new jobs in the first three months of this year, a 7.2% increase over the same quarter the previous year.

The Statistics Department said the increase was in line with the country’s economic performance.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the period also marked a turnaround for wholesale and retail sales. The sector registered a 9.3% growth, its first since the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the economy.

The industrial production index surged 9.3% in March, compared with the corresponding month last year.

However, the number of new jobs has yet to reach pre-Covid-19 levels, when it averaged 200,000 vacancies, Mohd Uzir said in a statement in conjunction with the release of the Report of Employment Statistics, first quarter 2021 yesterday.

The report is based on an employment survey conducted on registered businesses in the private sector and it presents labour-demand statistics, encompassing jobs, filled jobs, vacancies and jobs created by skill categories and economic activities.

Mohd Uzir said more than half of job vacancies in Q1 this year were in the semi-skilled category, accounting for 55.5% or 98,700 job vacancies, followed by the skilled category at 23.5% (41,800) and low-skilled category at 21% (37,400).

Most job vacancies were in the manufacturing sector, with 100,900 vacancies (56.7%) primarily in the electrical, electronic and optical products sub-sector (30,600), followed by petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (18,700).

Job vacancies in the agriculture sector totalled 28,500 (16%) largely in the crops and livestock sub-sector. In the services sector, there were 26,800 job vacancies (15.1%), particularly in wholesale and retail trade activity, he said.

Analysing the year-on-year performance, he said jobs created in Q1 fell by 4,500, with the skilled category showing a declining trend while both the semi and low-skilled categories posted increases.

“Considering the current health crisis, the first quarter of 2021 indicated a modest recovery momentum of labour demand, among others, due to the relaxation of some restrictions imposed at the beginning of the movement control order from January this year.”

Mohd Uzir said various government incentives and stimulus packages improved economic growth and facilitated the labour market’s recovery pace.