Unemployment Rate on the Line

Recently the media have been focusing on the unemployment issues after the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) reported the current unemployment rate is the highest since 1993.

For the last three days, the unemployment rate issue covered 4 out of the 10 top issues available within the topic.

Malaysia’s unemployment rate in 2020 has reached 4.5% beating the highest of 4.1% in 1993 according to DOSM.

Chief Statistician Malaysia, Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin, pointed out the pandemic was the main culprit on the surge of unemployment due to the lower demand in labour.

The news title sentiment has been negative since the start of the month except on 4th February. However, the negative sentiment quickly rose on the 8th day after DoSM and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reported about the unemployment rate.

Although the issue is not within the top issues, UNICEF also highlighted Kuala Lumpur’s urban poor which have worsened as the unemployment rate had doubled.

The rate of unemployment according to a survey made by UNICEF has increased from 7% in September to 15% in December.

Najib Razak who has been active in questioning the government was quick to criticize the government based on the UNICEF report.

He stated that the government has been making strange measures during the “half-baked” Movement Control Order (MCO) such as the Travel Green Lane with Indonesia.