KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian labour market is expected to strengthen further in 2023, underpinned by continuous upbeat momentum in the domestic economy and modest expansion in the external sector, according to MIDF Research.
In a note today, MIDF said that the strengthening job market will further reinforce consumer consumption and support overall gross domestic product (GDP) growth for this year.
“However, we expect a slight moderation of employment growth in the second half of this year following weakening external trade performances.
“We foresee Malaysia’s unemployment rate to decline further to 3.5% but slightly higher than the pre-pandemic level of 3.3%,” said MIDF.
The research house noted that the steady expansion in primary sectors as well as construction and services would prop up more employment opportunities next year.
Labour force and employment are expected to grow 1.6% respectively this year.
According to data released by the statistics department today, the unemployment rate in April was unchanged from the previous month at 3.5%.
A month-on-month comparison showed that the number of employed persons in April inched up 0.2% to record 16.25 million persons versus 16.22 million in March.