The research house said the unemployment rate for youth aged 15-24 fell to a new pandemic low of 11.8% but remained higher than the pre-pandemic level of 10.4% in 2019.
Labour force and employment continued expanding 2.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) and 3.1% y-o-y respectively supported by robust domestic economic growth and an upbeat external front, it said in a research note today.
Unemployment dipped further by 12.8% y-o-y, marking the 16 consecutive months of contraction. In addition, outside labour force reduced by 1.3% y-o-y, registering 14 straight months of negative growth rate, it said.
MIDF Research said employment growth for 2022 hit a new record high of 3.5%. It said the jobless rate averaged lower at 3.8% but still higher than the pre-pandemic 2019’s average of 3.3%.
“Even with robust economic growth pace recorded last year, we opine labour shortages, tightness in global supply chain and Covid-19 concerns are among downside factors for solid recovery of the job market,” it said.
It said manufacturing employment contribution to total employment declined to 14.5% in 2022, the lowest ever recorded.
However, it said manufacturing employment rose slower than total employment growth at 3.2% versus 3.5% in 2022 respectively despite the booming external trade sector during the pandemic years.
On a positive note, the research house said the average monthly wage level was on an uptrend from RM2,765 in 2016 to RM3,420 in 2022.
It said by subsector, electrical and electronics (E&E) related industries remained the main employment pool particularly electronic integrated circuits, electrical resistor component and computers and peripherals equipment which comprised 12.2% of the manufacturing job market in 2022.
On the external front, it said the US job market improved in the first month of 2023 with the jobless rate declining to 3.4%, the lowest since May 1969, despite the elevated inflationary pressure and tightening monetary policy.
“We foresee the jobless rate to decline steadily following the improving local economic activities and international borders reopening in China,” it added.