January’s unemployment rate for Malaysia stood at 3.3%, down 0.3% over the previous year and unchanged over the previous month, according to data from Statistics Malaysia.

In January 2024, the number of unemployed persons decreased further, with a marginal drop of 0.1% to 567,300 when compared to the December 2023 figure of 567,800 persons but down 0.3% compared to January 2023’s figure of 596,100.

At the same time, the number of employed persons continued in an upward trend, with a rise of 0.2% (up 25,300 persons) from the previous month to a record 16.48 million persons (December 2023: 16.46 million). It also increased from 16.16 million in January 2023.

Malaysia’s labour force in January 2024 increased by 0.1% to 17.05 million persons compared to the previous month (December 2023: 17.03 million persons) and increased by 16.76 million the year prior. The labour force participation rate was 70.2%, the same as in the preceding month but up from 69.8% the year prior, the statistics body added.