Malaysia’s unemployment rate in February 2020 increased to 3.3 per cent compared to 3.2 per cent in January 2020, said. In February 2020, the number of those unemployed was 525,200 people, a 2.6-per cent increase compared to the previous month.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said “The unemployment rate in February 2020 was not influenced by internal shock due to the Covid-19 outbreak and it is expected to affect the March 2020 unemployment rate,” he said in a statement today commenting on the Key Statistics of Labour Force in Malaysia report for February 2020.
He said the labour force in February 2020 increased 2.1 per cent to 15.87 million people compared to the same month last year. During the same period, he said the number of those employed also increased 2.1 per cent to 15.34 million people. The labour force participation rate in February 2020 dropped 0.2 percentage points to 68.7 per cent compared to the previous month, but increased 0.2 percentage point of 68.5 per cent in February 2019, he said.
“The number of unemployed accounted for 525,200 persons in February 2020, an increase of 1.7 per cent from 516,400 persons in February 2019. For January 2020, the unemployment rate rose 2.6 per cent to 511,700 persons,” he added. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, 31.3 per cent of working population aged between 15 year and 64 years were outside the labour force, comprising housewives, students, retirees and those not interested in working.
