March jobless rate in Malaysia spikes to 610,500

Army Forces personnels patrolling at the entrance to Taman Sri Murni during the movement control order (MCO) recently. AZMAN GHANI / The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported a 17.1% increase in unemployed persons to 610,500 in March this year, the fallout from the Movement Control Order (MCO) as the government sought to minimise the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement issued on Friday, Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said this increase when compared with 521,300 a year ago was due to the adverse impact of the MCO.