The unemployment rate in Malaysia stood at 3.6% in January 2023, down by 0.6% from a year earlier, according to the latest statistics from the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

The unemployment rate was also 3.6% in December 2022.

Over the year, the number of unemployed persons declined in January by 596,100 or about 0.6%. In December, the statistics department recorded a reduction of unemployed persons by 599,600.

Total employment increased in January, with 28,900 new jobs over the month, to a record 16.16 million people working. The department noted the employment-to-population ratio remained at 67.3%. Over the year, the increase in employed persons stood at 3.0%.

The labour force participation continued to remain at 69.8% but the number of people in the labour force improved, increasing over the month by 0.2% or 25,400 to 16.76 million people. On a year-on-year basis the rate was up by 0.7%.

The number of people outside the labour force decreased over the month by 1,200 people, or 0.02%, down to 7.24 million. The annual drop was 1.3%.

The services sector registered increases in employment, including wholesale and retail, food and beverage services, and administrative and support services