Malaysia Industrial Production Growth Improves: Jobless Rate Stable

(RTTNews) - Malaysia's industrial production expanded at a faster pace on the back of robust growth in manufacturing output, while the unemployment rate remained steady at the end of the first quarter, data from the Department of Statistics showed on Tuesday.

Industrial production rose 5.1 percent year-on-year in March, faster than the 4.0 percent increase in February.

Among sectors, manufacturing output advanced the most by 6.9 percent annually in March, following a 5.2 percent gain in the prior month.

The main industries that contributed to manufacturing growth was electronics and electrical products, non-metallic mineral products, metal products, and food, beverages and tobacco products. Production in electricity and mining sector logged a growth of 0.8 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively at the end of the first quarter.

On a monthly basis, industrial production climbed 8.6 percent in March.

During the first quarter of this year, industrial production increased 4.5 percent as compared to the same period of 2021.

Separate data from the statistical office revealed that the unemployment rate remained stable at 4.1 percent in March. In the corresponding month of the previous year, the jobless rate was 4.7 percent.

The number of unemployed people decreased to 669,200 in March from 671,800 in February.

The labor force participation rate edged up by 0.1 percent monthly to 69.2 percent in March.

The youth unemployment rate, which applies to 15 to 24 age group, rose to 13.1 percent in March from 13.0 percent in February.