'Labour force indices for March, rest of year will show impact of Covid 19'

The impact of the movement control order (MCO) to fight the Covid-19 pandemic on the employment situation is expected to be seen in the indices for March and the rest of the year, said Chief Statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin.

Commenting on the Malaysian Labour Force Report 2019 which among others shows the unemployment rate for 2019 remaining at 3.3 per cent, the same as 2018, Mohd Uzir said it was because Covid-19 was not very much in the picture then.

The unemployment rate in January 2020 was 3.2 per cent and it rose to 3.3 per cent in February.

"The (unemployment) rate for March will be published on May 8, 2020," he said in a statement today.

On the labour force, he said there was a two per cent increase with 15.6 million people employed in 2019 as compared to 15.3 million in 2018.

The labour participation rate (KPTB) in 2019 also rose by 0.4 percentage points to 68.7 per cent as compared to 68.3 per cent in 2018.

Employment of those with tertiary education also rose by 0.8 percentage points to 29.4 per cent in 2019 as compared to 28.6 per cent in 2018. - Bernama