KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — The Malaysian labour market is expected to strengthen further in 2023, underpinned by continuous upbeat momentum in the domestic economy and modest expansion in the external sector, according to MIDF Research.
In a note today, it said the strengthening job market will further reinforce consumer consumption and support overall gross domestic product (GDP) growth for this year.
“However, we expect slight moderation of employment growth in the second half of this year following weakening external trade performances.
“We foresee Malaysia’s unemployment rate to decline further to 3.5 per cent but slightly higher than the pre-pandemic level of 3.3 per cent,” said MIDF Research.
The research house noted the steady expansion in primary sectors as well as construction and services will prop up more employment opportunities next year.
Labour force and employment are expected to pick up by +1.6 per cent respectively this year.
Meanwhile, the Department of Statistics Malaysia released the country’s labour force data today.
A month-on-month comparison showed that the number of employed persons in April 2023 inched up 0.2 per cent to record 16.25 million persons versus 16.22 million in March.
The unemployment rate in April 2023 stood at 3.5 per cent, unchanged from March 2023.
— Bernama
