PUTRAJAYA, July 8 — Malaysia’s unemployment rate in May 2021 was 4.5 per cent or involving 728,100 persons, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
In its Statistics of Labour Force, Malaysia, May 2021 published today, DOSM said the unemployment rate in May 2021 was slightly lower as compared to 4.6 per cent in April.
In May last year, Malaysia experienced an all-time high monthly unemployment rate of 5.3 per cent with 826,100 unemployed persons.
“Thus, in comparison with the same month of the previous year, the number was smaller yet still above 500,000 persons recorded during the pre-pandemic period,” said Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin commenting on the report in a statement today.
Commenting on the unemployment in May 2021, Mohd Uzir said the actively unemployed, which comprised more than 80 per cent of the total unemployed persons, recorded a reduction of 8,700 persons to 609,900 persons compared to 618,700 persons in April.
“Among the actively unemployed who were available for work and were actively seeking jobs, 52.2 per cent were unemployed for less than three months while those who were in long-term unemployment of more than a year comprised of 10.2 per cent,” he said.
On the employed persons during the month, Mohd Uzir said the number of employed persons increased marginally by 0.1 per cent to 15.37 million persons compared with 15.35 million in April.
By economic sector, the number of employed persons in services sector posted a month-on-month increase particularly in wholesale & retail trade; food & beverages services and human health & social work activities, he said.
