Malaysia unemployment dips to 3.9 percent in April

Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], June 9 (ANI/Xinhua): Malaysia's unemployment rate dipped to 3.9 per cent in April, being below 4 per cent for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Southeast Asian country, official data showed Thursday.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that economic activities continued to flourish after Malaysia reopened its international borders on April 1.
The labour force condition in April strengthened further with a surge of 0.4 per cent month on month to 16.50 million persons. Accordingly, the labour force participation rate edged up by 0.2 percentage points to 69.4 per cent, as compared to 69.2 per cent in March.
The encouraging situation was due to the continuous increase in employment while the unemployment remained on a declining trend, said the DOSM.
According to the DOSM, the number of employed persons increased to 15.85 million in April from 15.77 million in March. The number of unemployed persons continued to decline for nine consecutive months, registering a decrease of 3 per cent to 649,300, as compared to 669,200 in March.
"A more positive economic outlook is observed as the country moves into the phase of transition to endemic ... This situation is seen to open up more job opportunities since business activities require more workers to accommodate the growing demand for goods and services. Thus, the labor market is foreseen to be able to sustain its resiliency in the months to come," said the DOSM. (ANI/Xinhua)