Malaysia’s unemployment rate declined to 3.3% in May 2019

Malaysia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in May this year slightly dipped to 3.3% as compared to the previous month of April, where it was at 3.3%, as revealed by the Department of Statistics’ (DOSM) Key Statistics of Labour Force.

The department revealed that in total, there were 519,800 unemployed people in the country, who accounted for a 0.7% decrease as compared to the previous month. 

Meanwhile, the country’s labour force participation rate remained at 68.5% since February but increased 0.1 percentage points as compared to the same month of the previous year. In May 2018, it stood at 68.4%. The number thus rose to 15.64 million employed people in the country. 

When it came to the number of people outside the labour workforce, that number stood at 31.5% which comprised of housewives, students, retirees and those not interested to work in the age group of 15-64 years.

The statistics revealed follow closely the numbers released by the Department of Statistics earlier this month that stated that the private sector in Malaysia recorded an increase of 82,000 positions in the first quarter of the year compared to the first quarter of 2018.

Source: Monthly Labour Survey, Department of Statistics, Malaysia