Positive economic outlook will support labour market: MIDF Research

PETALING JAYA: The unemployment rate maintained at 3.5% in February according to the Statistics Department, but MIDF Research said positive economic outlook will strengthen the labour market, which is in line with the recovery in global trade.
The labour force participation rate slightly increased 0.1% to 67.8% in February compared with the previous month, according to the Department of Statistics. On a year-on-year basis, the labour force participation rate increased 0.2%.
MIDF Research reiterated its expectation that Malaysia’s unemployment rate to average at 3.3% this year.
The data was derived from the Labour Force Survey, which covers both urban and rural areas of all states in Malaysia.
MIDF Research said the expected better performance of Malaysia’s export-oriented industries, arising from the improvement in global trade activity, will have positive spill-over effects on the country’s labour market.
Furthermore, it said firmer global commodity prices could provide more jobs creation especially the commodities-based sectors and its downstream activities.
“Domestic spending which is expected to drive our economy this year may give extra boost in domestic-oriented industries and hence more jobs creation,” it added.
MIDF Research noted that the 1.5% increase in labour force to 14.9 million in February was supported by modest growth in employment amid positive outlook on domestic economy.
On monthly basis, the research house said the rate of growth of labour force and employment are higher compared to the rate of growth of unemployment.
“The prevailing trend signals that our economy is on the uptrend and more jobs are being created,” it added.