KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 10): The labour market in Malaysia will continue to strengthen in 2024, on the back of encouraging momentum in the domestic economy, said economists on Wednesday after the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) announced that the unemployment rate dipped to a new post-pandemic low of 3.3% in November 2023.
In an issued note, UOB Global Economics and Markets Research said the Malaysian economy had technically reached full employment and will maintain such conditions, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.3% by the end of 2024.
It said despite ongoing external headwinds, the outlook will be underpinned by positive domestic drivers, including improved tourism activities, continued implementation of infrastructure projects, further realisation of committed investments, and government initiatives.
The research house pointed to the vital role of government policy support in upholding full employment conditions.
“Although the number of unemployed persons dropped further by 1,700 to 569,200 [in November], it remained above the monthly average of 518,900 in the pre-pandemic year of 2019,” it said.
“Bold labour market policy reforms, such as the progressive wage mechanism and the Second Labour Recalibration Programme (RTK 2.0), along with the effective implementation of the national blueprints, will help to complement the effects of job-related measures announced under Budget 2024 on the Malaysian economy,” it added.
It also pointed out that several key initiatives under Budget 2024, including the RM6.8 billion allocation for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes and the RM1.6 billion allocation for training programmes under the Human Resource Development Corp (HRD Corp), will help maintain the country’s full employment conditions by the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, MIDF Research said the strengthening job market will support overall gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 2024.
“Job vacancies have stabilised at around 150,000 per month since June 2023. Malaysia’s job vacancies were registered at 163,200 in October 2023, the highest in four months. This was in line with our expectations of external trade recovery from the fourth quarter of 2023 onwards.
“We foresee average job vacancies to hover between 100,000 and 150,000 per month levels in 2024, amid external trade recovery and resilient domestic demand,” it added.
It forecast an average jobless rate of 3.4% in 2024, and 3.3% in 2025, on the back of resilient domestic demand and external trade recovery, with the return of non-citizen workers boosting the overall employment rate.
“Downside risks to Malaysia’s labour market, among others, are weaker-than-expected external trade recovery and a nosedive in global commodity prices,” it added.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/696924

