KUALA LUMPUR (April 3): Amid the coronavirus pandemic outbreak this year, Malaysia's unemployment rate is expected to shoot up to 4% this year, from 3.3% in 2019, said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
Labour market conditions, in general, are expected to be weak this year, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We expect the labour market to be considerably weaker and the unemployment rate to increase to about 4% in 2020.
“In comparison, during the global financial crisis, our unemployment rate was at 3.7% in 2009, while during the Asian financial crisis in 1998, the unemployment rate was at 3.2%,” BNM deputy governor Shaik Abdul Rasheed Abdul Ghaffour told a virtual press conference today.
However, he reiterated that the stimulus package introduced by the government may partially offset the impact as the booster shot was intended to assist the workers, households and businesses to go through this difficult period.
“[Through the measures implemented by the government,] we want to avoid a permanent impact on businesses and workers. This way, once Covid-19 is controlled, business activity can be resumed. The [faster] we contain the outbreak, the [faster] we can help businesses to resume operations and [rehire] workers. This will help the labour market to recover faster,” he added.
The unemployment rate has been stable at around 3.3% to 3.4% during the last four years, from 2016 to 2019.
For more stories on BNM's annual report, click here.
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/malaysia-unemployment-rate-expected-hit-4-year-due-covid19
