Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said revenue from the wholesale and retail trade, food and beverages, and accommodation segments shrunk 0.2% to RM346.7 billion.

This was followed by the information and communications, and transportation and storage segments, which contracted 6.4% to RM59.8 billion.

The health, education and arts, entertainment and recreation segments also plunged 23.1% to RM12.9 billion, and the professional and real estate agent segment declined 8.1% to RM9.0 billion.

“On a quarter-on-quarter basis, total revenue recorded a decrease of RM7.4 billion or 1.7% to RM428.5 billion,” Uzir said in a statement today.

He said 3.7 million people were engaged in the service sectors, and this number declined by 80,693 or 2.2% compared with the same period last year.

Salaries and wages also declined to RM24.2 billion during this quarter, down by RM466.7 million or 1.9%.

Uzir said the economy is expected to recover in the next quarter.