KUALA LUMPUR: Amid the higher vaccination rates, the country’s economic position is expected to strengthen and unemployment rate to fall starting this month given that more states exit from Phase One of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
He said Malaysia’s jobless rate is anticipated to improve gradually with more states moving into Phase Two, especially the Klang Valley, which covers Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya, starting Sept 10.
“The stage-by-stage transition via NRP phases, which allows more economic activities to operate based on compliance with specified standard operating procedures, will result in a gradual recovery in economic activities,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
He said the reopening of more economic sectors in the Klang Valley is crucial because it contributes about 40% to gross domestic product.
Citing the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s labour force data, Mustapa said the unemployment rate in the country remained at 4.8% in July 2021 with the number of unemployed persons rising slightly to 778,200 people compared to the preceding month.
The labour market has been gradually recovering since early this year, with the unemployment rate easing to 4.5% in May from 4.9% in January 2021.
“However, the Movement Control Order implementation by the government following the resurgence of new Cvid-19 cases from June 2021 has led to a rise in the unemployment rate to 4.8% in June,” he noted.
According to Mustapa, the government views seriously the job issue, especially unemployment among youths, as well as skills-based underemployment.
“With regard to this, the government has formed the National Employment Council chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob that aims to create 500,000 jobs and skills training placements this year through strategic cooperation between government agencies and industry players,” he added. – Bernama
Source: The Sun Daily
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