Unemployment rate drops to 4.8 pct in second quarter of 2021 - Saravanan

KUALA LUMPUR: The unemployment rate in Malaysia dropped 0.3 per cent to 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2021 compared to 5.1 per cent recorded in the corresponding period last year, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said Labuan and Sabah recorded an unemployment rate of more than eight per cent, namely at 8.8 per cent and 8.7 per cent, respectively.

"This shows that out of the 100 labour force in the states, nine of them are unemployed," he said in response to a question from Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakob (UMNO-Machang) who wanted to know about the country's unemployment rate up till August this year.

Saravanan said for the same period, Perlis recorded an unemployment rate of 5.3 per cent while six states recorded an unemployment rate of more than four per cent, namely Kelantan (4.8 per cent); Kuala Lumpur (4.7 per cent); Perak, Selangor and Sarawak (4.4 per cent each) and Terengganu at 4.2 per cent.

"Six states, namely Kedah, Penang, Johor, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan recorded unemployment rates of between 3.5 per cent and 3.9 per cent.

"The lowest unemployment rate is recorded in Putrajaya at 1.7 per cent. This can be attributed to the high involvement of the residents in the area in the civil service," he said.

Saravanan said there were seven states with unemployment rates below four per cent, reflecting that their economy was operating at the full employment level.

At the same time, the decline in the number of unemployed persons was recorded in seven states, namely Sabah, Perak, Sarawak, Kedah, Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Putrajaya, he said.

He added that although Selangor recorded the highest increase in the number of employed persons, the number of unemployed in the state also rose by 2.3 per cent or 3,700 people from 161,000 to 165,000 people.

-- BERNAMA