The number is the highest since 1990. Not something to be happy about because this is our unemployment rate. It has reached 5% for month of April 2020. The reason is easy to see. Businesses are closed because of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and the reopening is only expected to provide some relief beginning June. In other words, May unemployment numbers may be even higher if not the same as April. Are you working from home and still receiving your full pay? Be grateful. Let’s look at some details from Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Article in edgeprop.my Unemployed persons increased by 48.8% year-on-year and this caused the unemployment rate to spike to 5% in April. In a statement, Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the closure of operations for most businesses during the Movement Control Order (MCO) has impacted employment and job seekers could hardly find jobs.
Those most affected include those in the manufacturing and services sectors, namely accommodation and food & beverage; arts, entertainment & recreation and other services such as beauty centres and salons. For recovery, he said, “Recovery MCO (RMCO) kicked off on June 10, 2020, where reactivation of businesses for more sectors and inter-state travels are allowed. These are predicted to spur businesses and steer the improvement of the job market, especially in the travel and tourism related industries.” Please do read the full article here: Article in edgeprop.my
Perhaps it is good to put this into context. This number is for April 2020. I think we even may hit a higher number for May 2020 but let’s hope that numbers for June will be healthier. If we compare ourselves to the usual few countries, Singapore’s unemployment is now at 3.5% and this is the highest in a decade. Meanwhile, in Australia, the unemployment has hit 6.2% even though this expected to slowly go down with reopening of more businesses.
In U.S.A (the world’s largest economy), the unemployment rate has dropped from an earlier 14.7% in April to 13.3% in May 2020. Remember, it may too late to do anything for this round but for some of us who were less affected this time, then it’s time to start saving and investing for our future yeah. Happy understanding and following. Will report when we have the next number from our Statistics Department.
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