Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin cited the reopening of more economic sectors and the resumption of social and recreational activities as the main reason for employment remaining stable in October, based on the department’s findings from a labour force survey.

“This was reflected by the higher number of people getting employed during the month as the unemployment rate continued to decline,” he said in a statement today.

“The upward trend of employed persons persisted during October by registering an addition of 0.6% month-on-month to 15.55 million persons, with the employment-to-population ratio increasing by 0.3% from 65.5% in September to 65.8% in October.”

Uzir said the number of unemployed persons dropped by 3.4%, with 705,000 unemployed persons recorded in October compared with 729,000 in September.

“From the total number of unemployed persons recorded in October, 83.6% were either actively unemployed, available for work or actively seeking jobs,” he said.

In terms of employment by economic sector, the number of employed persons in the services sector continued to increase, especially in wholesale and retail trade, food and beverages, information and communications, and transport and storage.

Uzir expected more economic recovery in the coming months as the national recovery plan continues and with more of the population being vaccinated.