The unemployment rate in Malaysia stood at 4.6% in September 2020, an increase of 1.3% when compared to the same period last year, according to data from Statistics Malaysia. When compared to August 2020, the unemployment rate remained steady.

The number of unemployed persons totalled 737,500 persons in September 2020. At the same time, the number of employed persons totalled 15.19 million persons, down 0.2% when compared to the previous year but up 0.3% compared to August 2020.

Malaysia’s labour force participation rate stood at 68.4%, down 0.3% compared to the same period last year and steady compared to August 2020. During the month, the labour force increased by 35,500 persons to 15.93 million persons  (August 2020: 15.90 million persons).

In September 2020, employment continued to grow at a slower pace of 0.3% (August 2020: 0.5%) to 15.19 million persons. The employment-to-population ratio remained at 65.2%.

Statistics Malaysia said that, although the Covid-19 pandemic continued to be a difficult challenge in September 2020, the Malaysian labour force situation was further improved as the progress of the economic sector continued to grow. However, looking at the current situation with a spike of new Covid-19 cases especially in certain parts of the country since the end of September 2020, it is foreseen that the labour market will face more challenges in the coming months.

Malaysia had undergone seven months of Movement Control Order (MCO) to contain the spread of the pandemic. Since 10 June 2020, the Recovery MCO allowed more economic sectors to operate although businesses were not operating at an optimum level. In the meantime, various stimulus packages provided by the government helped to cushion the negative impact of the pandemic on the economy including labour market. 

In September 2020, it was reported that the number of new cases began to rise again for several administrative districts mainly in Kedah and Sabah. Consequently, Administrative Enhanced MCO was implemented in these areas and had successfully curbed the spread while mitigated the negative impact to the labour market. As a result, the labour force during the month continued to increase marginally.