The unemployment rate in Malaysia inched lower to 3.3 percent in January 2019 from 3.4 percent in the corresponding month of the previous year. The number of unemployed declined 0.2 percent from a year earlier to 515.6 thousand, while employment increased 2.2 percent to 14.99 million. Also, the labor force went up 2.1 percent to 15.51 million. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the jobless edged down to 3.2 percent in January from 3.3 percent in December. Unemployment Rate in Malaysia averaged 3.28 percent from 1998 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 4.50 percent in March of 1999 and a record low of 2.70 percent in August of 2012.
Unemployment Rate in Malaysia is expected to be 3.20 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Unemployment Rate in Malaysia to stand at 3.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Malaysia Unemployment Rate is projected to trend around 3.60 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.