PETALING JAYA: The country’s unemployment rate is expected to further improve to 3.2% at the end of the year from 3.3% last year.
The unemployment rate improved to 3.2% in August, after nine consecutive months at 3.3%. The number of unemployed persons continued its downward trend and decelerated by 5,200 persons to 558,500 persons during the month versus 563,700 in July.
Meanwhile, total employment sustained its upward trajectory amid economic expansion, increasing by 29,400 to 16.66 million persons during the month from 16.63 million in July. Moreover, the labour force participation rate maintained its 70.4% for the third consecutive month.
Affin Investment Bank Research said in a report recently the economic census 2023, published by the Statistics Department in September, revealed that the value added for micro, small and medium enterprises had achieved an annual growth of 4.6% between 2015 and 2022.
The services sector recorded the highest value-added growth, followed by manufacturing and constructions.
On the other hand, salaries and wages recorded 2.9% growth in 2022.
