The labor force participation rate (LFPR) in Malaysia in January 2019 increased 0.1 percentage point to 68.6 percent as compared to December 2018 (68.5 percent).

The data published by the Department of Statistics, Malaysia (DOMS) also highlights that LFPR also increases 0.4 percentage points year-on-year (Y-O-Y), whereby January 2018 was 68.2 percent. As of January 2019, the number of labor force now stands at 15.51 million persons.

Of the total 68.2 percent labor force, the number of employed persons has also increased by 2.2 percent to 14.99 million persons (vs. 14.67 million in January 2018).

Taking into consideration the issue of unemployment, the rate of unemployment in January 2019 reduced to 3.2 percent as compared to 3.3 percent in December. The number of unemployed persons recorded a total of 515.6 thousand persons, dropped 0.2 percent against January 2018.

The data published by the Labor Force Survey (LFS) was constructed to collect the information on the structure and distribution of labor force, employment and unemployment.

LFA covers both urban and rural areas of all states of Malaysia through personal interview methods. The survey population cover persons who live in private living quarters and excludes persons residing in institutions such as hotels, hostels, hospitals, prisons, boarding houses and workers living in construction work site.

The survey covers the economically active and inactive population. To measure the economically active population, LFS uses the age limit of 15 to 64 years. The economically active community includes employed and unemployed population whereas those who are inactive are classified as outside the labor force.