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Malaysia’s Unemployment Rate Jump To Decade Record High Amid Pandemic

Malaysia’s Unemployment Rate Jump To Decade Record High Amid Pandemic

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Though Malaysia’s non-essential industries and services are slowly beginning to resume business after the extended lockdown period, Malaysians are already feeling the crunch of the global Covid-19 economic stagnation.

As of March 2020, the nation’s unemployment rate rose to over 17%, the highest it’s been in over a decade.

Data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) show that the number of unemployed individuals in the country grew to 610,500 compared to just over 500,000 as of the same time last year.

Moreover, DOSM also projected that only some 50% of Malaysia’s companies and businesses would be able to survive between 1 to 2 months by providing full-time employees with only half their pay.

(Credit: DOSM)

Meanwhile, predictions made by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) claim that 24% of businesses could eventually fold within the next 6 months, while up to 49% could go under in 12 months

And estimations by the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) predicted that more than 2 million Malaysians are likely to lose their jobs over the course of the coronavirus crisis.

With the World Bank forecasting Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) to fall between 0.1% o 4.6% this year, it looks like the country is in for more tough times ahead.


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