The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) stated that in 2020, the unemployment rate of Malaysia rose to 4.5 percent, which is the highest rate since 1993, where it registered 4.1 percent. The current unemployment is one of the major impacts of COVID-19 pandemic.
Mohd Uzir Mahidin, the Chief Statistician, said that in December 2020, the unemployment rate rose to 4.8 percent month-on-month with an additional 772,900 people losing their jobs, whereas the number of working people grew to just 0.1 percent month-on-month, which is equivalent to 19,300 people, to 15.22 million people.
Mohd Uzir said that due to the unfavorable impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the country encountered a poor labor demand. The health issues too had a major impact on the labor force, which increased the unemployment rate to over 4 percent compared to the pre-crisis period which recorded an average of 3 percent. In 2020, the rate of labor force participation (LFPR) stood at 68.4%, which is down 0.3 percentage point annually.
Mohd Uzir stated that Malaysia’s labor market is expected to face a difficult situation until early 2021. However, the effect of the pandemic on the labor market will be dampened by various support and measures implemented by the government. He expressed hopes that the country will overcome the unemployment crisis by this year and improve its labor market.
