As per Malaysian Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin, the number of jobs in the private sector increased by 145,000 in the second quarter this year to 8.6 million posts compared with 8.5 million in the corresponding period last year.

Mahidin added that 97.5 percent or 8.4 million of the posts were filled, with vacancies for 218,000 posts or 2.5 percent. Meanwhile, most of the jobs were in the semi-skilled category, totaling 5.4 million or 62.3 percent of the positions, followed by 24.4 percent in the skilled category and 13.3 percent for low-skilled.

In terms of jobs created, the semi-skilled category represents 48.5 percent (13,200), followed by skilled category 44.7 percent and 6.8 percent for the low-skilled category.

About 51.6 percent of jobs in the private sector were in the service sector, while 26.3 percent were in the manufacturing sector. This was followed by 15.2 percent in the construction sector, agriculture at 5.9 percent and the one percent in mining and quarrying.

In terms of job vacancies, he said, 55.6 percent were in the manufacturing sector, followed by the service sector at 20.1 percent. As far as the creation of jobs was concerned, 50.4 percent were in the service sector, followed by manufacturing at 20.8 percent and construction at 19.6 percent.

“The mining and quarrying sector recorded the most posts filled, at 99.6 percent, followed by the service sector 99 percent and the construction sector 98.3 percent. For the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, the rate of posts filled was 94.7 percent and 94.0 percent, respectively,” he said. 

The upward trend in job creation continues in Malaysia from Q1. 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, as per the Department of Statistics. After the significant increase in the first quarter, the second quarter was also expected to exhibit positive growth, which it has, showing that the country’s economy will continue to grow. Malaysian economy continues to expand at a steady and promising pace, and the country’s main economic sectors are expected to record positive growth, with the service and manufacturing sectors projected to grow by 5.7% and 4.8% respectively.