Labour force sees gradual recovery

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s labour force indicated a gradual recovery in 2021, with a better situation anticipated in 2022, said chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.

He said the country’s labour force, which comprised employed and unemployed individuals, edged up by 0.8% to 15.8 million last year compared to 15.7 million in 2020.

“The number of employed people was up by 0.7% to 15.1 million in 2021 compared with the previous year.

“The reopening of more economic and social activities had encouraged the inactive groups into the labour force, either to be employed or in search of jobs,” he said in a statement yesterday following the release of the annual Statistics of Labour Force 2021 report.

Mohd Uzir said the majority of employed persons in 2021 were in the semi-skilled category, who accounted for 57.7% or 8.7 million of the total employed persons in 2021, followed by the skilled category, with 29.6% or 4.5 million, while the low-skilled category constituted 12.7% or 1.9 million.

He said in terms of employment status, the employees category formed the largest share of employed persons, at 78.5% in 2021, with the number of employed persons recording a year-on-year increase of 2.3% to 11.8 million from 11.6 million in 2020.

Mohd Uzir added that the own-account workers category made up 14.8%, declining to 2.2 million in 2021.

“As the pandemic prolonged in 2021, many businesses, especially small and micro enterprises, were impacted due to multiple restrictions implemented in selected high-risk areas.”

On the unemployment rate in 2021, he said there was a slight increase of 0.1% to 4.6%, with the number of unemployed individuals increasing from 733,000 to 711,000 in 2020.

Mohd Uzir said states which registered higher unemployment rates than the national level were Sabah, with 8.2%; the Federal Territory of Labuan, with 7.4%; and Perak, with 5.3%.

Among the states that posted the lowest unemployment rates were Putrajaya, with 1.6%, Malacca with 2% and Pahang at 3.3%.

He also said the overall labour force market had been on the road to recovery, with continuous improvement since last January, following the shift of the whole country to the fourth phase of the National Recovery Plan.

“These developments may contribute towards the hiring of more employees and creation of new jobs, consequently providing the impetus for economic growth. Therefore, Malaysia’s labour market is foreseen to speed up the recovery momentum in the near