Malaysia June Jobless Rate Fell to 4.9% as Economy Reopened

By Chester Tay

Malaysia's unemployment in June fell as the government opened up most of the country's economic sectors after its Covid-19 lockdown.

The Southeast Asia country's jobless rate declined to 4.9% in June, from a record-high of 5.3% in May. The number of unemployed persons dropped 6.4% to 773,200 persons, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said Friday.

Total labor force in June increased by 49,500 persons from May to 15.76 million persons. The labor force participation rate in June was 68.1%.

The department said unemployment rate in the second quarter increased to 5.1% from 3.5% in the first quarter, led by the sharp increase of unemployment in May 2020.

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