KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — The labour market in Malaysia is expected to strengthen further in 2023 and 2024, backed by encouraging momentum in the domestic economy, said MIDF Research.
“Malaysia’s average unemployment rate is expected to decline further to 3.5 per cent in 2023 and return to pre-pandemic levels at 3.3 per cent in 2024.
“The return of non-citizen workers is expected to boost overall employment and reduce the jobless rate,” it said in a note today.
As of the second quarter of 2023, non-citizens’ employment is almost 2.7 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels.
MIDF Research noted that employment as of the first eight months of the year grew by 2.5 per cent year-on-year (2022: +3.5 per cent), while unemployment reduced by -9.8 per cent year-on-year (2022: -14.8 per cent) and the jobless rate averaged at 3.5 per cent (2022: 3.8 per cent).
“Continued improvement in the labour market will support consumer spending as the wage recipients to employment ratio reached a new peak at 64.6 per cent in 2022, among others, thanks to the minimum wage salary policy,” it said.
— Bernama
