Posted on 19 Feb 2016
However, the research house noted that the 3.3% is not the seasonally adjusted rate.
“Malaysia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate currently stands at 3.1%, significantly lower than November’s unemployment rate of 3.3%,” it said in a note yesterday.
Nevertheless, MIDF Research said the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has also been on an upward trend, where both the unemployment rate and seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was at 2.7% in October 2014, before crawling up to the current level.
According to data released by the Department of Statistics on Wednesday, Malaysia’s unemployment rate increased slightly to 3.3% in December from 3.2% in November, with the unemployed rising from 453,300 to 478,100.
The seasonally adjusted jobless rate, meanwhile, dropped to 3.1% in December from 3.3% in November.
The labour force participation rate came in higher at 67.8% in December, up from 67.7% in November.
The unemployment rate in December 2014 was only 3%, with the jobless figure totaling 432,100.
During the global financial crisis, the country’s unemployment rate reached 4.1%.
