PUTRAJAYA: The nation’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest in 11 years at 2.9% in November, says Datuk Seri R. Ramanan.
The Human Resources Minister said this indicator showed that the country’s labour market is on a path to recovery owing to stable growth.
“This decline in unemployment is supported by an increase in employment, which reached 17.09 million.
“The employment-to-population ratio also rose to 68.8%, revealing that more Malaysians are entering the job market,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He also said the labour force participation rate remained strong at 70.9%.
He said this is a reflection of public confidence in the economy and the labour market’s ability to provide stable and quality job opportunities.
“A high participation rate indicates that the country’s economic fundamentals are healthy and resilient,” he added.
Ramanan said the labour market remains stable, with wage earners making up 74.8% the total workforce.
He said the figures represented an increase in formal employment and better social protection for workers.
“These positive trends are not an end in themselves, but a stepping stone for the ministry to continue strengthening the labour market and aligning it with industry needs, while preparing for future demands to keep the economy competitive,” he said, Bernama reported.
Meanwhile in Shah Alam, Ramanan said students who are eligible for the industrial training programme in the aviation sector at the Manpower Department (JTM) campus will now receive paid training.
He said this comes under a new memorandum of agreement signed with Malaysia Airlines Engineering Services (Mabes) yesterday.
“They will also earn a monthly allowance of between RM3,000 and RM4,000, which will also secure a job opportunity for them,” he said when visiting the JTM Advanced Technology Training Centre yesterday.
As of this month, he said some 33 students will undergo a six-month training stint with Mabes at Penang International Airport.
Currently, Ramanan said JTM has 770 students and has trained more than one million others since 2010.
