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       PETALING JAYA: The number of unemployed people in the country fell to the lowest since April 2020 on an improved economic climate following the easing of lockdowns nationwide.

       Several industries have benefitted but Professor of Economics at Sunway University Business School Dr Yeah Kim Leng (pic below) said that the better figures were mainly a result of the easing of lockdowns.

       The Statistics Department said the upward trend of employment in the services sector persisted mainly in wholesale and retail trade; food and beverage services; and transport and storage activities.

       A similar trend was observed in the manufacturing and construction sectors, while employment in the agriculture, and mining and quarrying sectors continued to fall, it said.

       Sunway's Yeah Kim Leng

       In a statement, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin (pic below) said the labour force in November 2021 held steady with continuing employment growth and saw a reduction in the number of unemployed persons due to the revival of more economic and social activities.

       “November 2021 also saw another five states move into phase four of the National Recovery Plan, except for Kelantan and Sarawak which were still in phase three. Additionally, the completed overall vaccination rate was increasing while the number of daily Covid-19 cases continued to decline,” he said.

       “These encouraging circumstances also had resulted in more travelling, both domestically and abroad during the month, hence influencing the labour market in November 2021,”Uzir added.

       Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin

       Yeah told StarBiz that the job creation and unemployment numbers were encouraging for the month of November 2021.

       “There is recovery in new jobs. The unemployment rate is down. Jobs have been created – improved and moving towards normalisation although the remaining Covid-19 restrictions will still have a lingering impact on a return to full normalcy,” Yeah said.

       “Most economic sectors are now operating. Also, the shortage in supplies in many industries may generate a greater demand for employees. The labour shortage around the world has constrained output and led to higher prices,” he added.

       The department said employed persons continued to rise for the fourth consecutive month with an increase of 0.4% month-on-month (m-o-m), recording 15.61 million persons in November 2021.

       The employment-to-population ratio, which indicates the ability of an economy to create employment, went up 0.2 percentage points to record 66% in November 2021, it said.

       In the meantime, unemployed persons reduced to the lowest number below 700,000 for the first time since April 2020, with a decrease of 1.5% m-o-m to 694,400 people.

       “The unemployment rate in November 2021 was 4.3%, unchanged from the previous month as more in the inactivity group were searching for jobs, which was then reflected by a decrease of 0.3% in the outside labour force to 7.34 million persons during the month (from 7.36 million persons in October 2021),” Mohd Uzir said.

       Commenting further, Yeah said the latest statistics were indicative that the broader economy was on a recovery trend.

       “However, we want to see the creation of more high-value jobs to truly help lift the job market. The current phase is just a resumption of economic activities and a normalisation of demand after the setbacks of the Covid-19 lockdowns,” Yeah said.

       “We can push for highly skilled job creation through new investments. These can be from the high-tech sectors – and this is important to sustain the creation of jobs, especially for the skilled workforce.

       “These vacancies can also cater to the retrenched skilled workers, especially,” he added.

       Meanwhile, the department said that the labour force participation rate in November 2021 elevated further to 68.9% from 68.8% in October 2021, with the labour force higher by 0.3% to post 16.30 million persons.

       Mohd Uzir said Malaysia’s labour force situation had been picking up gradually since August 2021, as most economic and social activities were operating as usual in accordance with strict standard operating procedures.

       “The continuous operation of these activities may also create more job opportunities, thus giving more chances to jobseekers and subsequently strengthening the labour market in the upcoming months,” he said.

       “With the recent flood disasters that hit the central and east-coast regions of the country, the impact is foreseen to be more localised and may not be substantial to the entire labour market,” he added.