Malaysia: Labour market keeps recovering – UOB

UOB Group’s Senior Economist Julia Goh and Economist Loke Siew Ting reviewed the latest labour market data in Malaysia.

Key Quotes

“Malaysia’s labour market conditions continued to improve with the unemployment rate falling to 4.7% in Jul (from 4.9% in Jun) and further 83.2k persons gained employment. The labour force participation rate held steady at 68.1%.”

“Total employment rose above 15 million persons for the first time in four months. Most economic sectors posted an increase in hiring since Jun, led by the services sector particularly accommodation, food & beverages, and transport & storage activities. The increase in employment in the manufacturing sector was led by electrical & electronics, metal-related, printing, plastic, motor vehicles, and rubber products sub-industries.”

“Although a recovery is underway, the labour market is expected to face hurdles as some of the relief measures expire at the end of Sep. The entrance of new graduates and workers returning to seek employment as economic conditions improve should see a higher labour force participation rate. We expect the unemployment rate to ease further to 4.5% by year-end.”