Malaysia’s unemployment rate in May stood at 4.5%, down 0.8% year-on-year, according to research from Statistics Malaysia.

As the country entered the second half of 2021, the Full Movement Control Order or 'total lockdown' was implemented in order to flatten the Covid-19 infection curve resulting in a nationwide shutdown of all social and economic sectors except those deemed as an essential economic and service sector with the limited number of employees at the site.

In May, the number of unemployed persons recorded a decline of 11.9%.

The number of employed persons remained in upward trend year-on-year by recording an increase of 3.2%.

The unemployment rate recorded a negative annual change of 0.8%, while the number of unemployed persons decreased by 11.9%.

Meanwhile the labour force participation rate stood at 68.5%, up 0.5% over the previous year.