Malaysia: Jobless rate held steady at 3.6% in November – UOB

UOB Group’s Senior Economist Julia Goh and Economist Loke Siew Ting assess the recently published labour market report in Malaysia.

Key Takeaways

“Malaysia’s labour market posted a more moderate improvement in Nov, with the unemployment rate holding unchanged at 3.6% for the second straight month. The labour force participation rate advanced to an all-time high of 69.8% (from 69.7% in Oct) following a persistent increase in the size of the labour force (Nov: +25.9k or +0.2% m/m to 16.71mn persons vs Oct: +26.3k or +0.2% m/m to 16.68mn).”

“Total employment also saw a slower gain of 27.1k or 0.2% m/m to another record high of 16.11mn in Nov (Oct: +29.3k or +0.2% m/m to 16.08mn). Improved recruitments were seen across all economic sectors, led by services sectors. The mining & quarrying sector posted its first gain in hiring since Jul 2020.”

“Both the slower job gains and uptrend in inactively unemployed since Jul 2022 continued to reinforce our view of a softening recovery momentum in Malaysia’s labour market this year (2023). While China’s reopening is expected to provide positive economic spillover effects to regional countries including Malaysia, gloomier global growth prospects, global tech downcycle, ongoing RussiaUkraine war, and tighter monetary policy will likely impede global demand and labour market recovery ahead. We maintain our unemployment rate projection at 3.2% for 2023 (from an estimated 3.5% for 2022).”