PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia's unemployment rate declined in April to 3.9% against 4.1% in March, according to the Statistics of Labour Force April 2022 report released by the Statistics Department on Thursday (June 9).

       Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin (pic) said the labour force conditions in April strengthened further with an increase of 0.4% month-on-month to 16.5 million persons compared to 16.44 million in March.

       "The labour force participation rate edged up by 0.2 percentage points to 69.4% from 69.2% in March, indicating more labour participation in the market,” he said in a statement.

       He said employed persons increased 0.5% month-on-month to a record of 15.85 million in April against 15.77 million in March.

       On the employment situation, Mohd Uzir said the employee category which made up the largest composition of employed persons at 76.3% improved by 0.3% month-on-month to 12.09 million from 12.06 million in March.

       The own-account workers continued to rise, going up by 1.2% to 2.72 million in April from 2.69 million in March.

       "The increase was partly due to more business activities in conjunction with the celebration of Ramadan and preparation for Aidilfitri during the month parallel with the reopening of borders which encouraged the tourism sector and tourism-related industries to resume their activities,” he said.

       In the economic sector, Mohd Uzir said the number of employed persons in the services sector also showed a positive trend, particularly in wholesale and retail trade, food and beverage services, as well as health and social work. – Bernama