Unemployment high among the higher educated

PARLIAMENT There is a higher rate of unemployment among the higher educated people in the country, as shown by government statistics revealed by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Wahid Omar.

Those with tertiary education had a 3.6 percent rate of unemployment in the first half of 2014, increasing by 0.2 percent to 3.8 percent in the first half of 2015, the statistics released in Parliament yesterday show.

Going by education level, people with only high school education had the second highest rate of unemployment, with 3.3 percent for the first half of 2015, also up by 0.2 percent from 2014.

This is followed by those with no formal education, at two percent rate of unemployment and then by those with only primary school education with 1.2 percent rate of unemployment in 2015.

The statistics also showed that Indians now have the highest rate of unemployment among the races in the first half of this year, at 4.5 percent, an increase of 0.3 percent from last year.

Women's jobless rate at 3.3 percent

Last year, the race with the highest rate of unemployment was the 'others' category, at 9.1 percent, though that number has fallen drastically this year to 3.7 percent.

Although the rate of unemployment for men has increased slightly from last year by 0.1 percent to 2.9 percent this year, it is still significantly lower than that for women, whose rate of unemployment remains the same at 3.3 percent.

Wahid revealed these statistics in a written parliamentary reply to Bukit Mertajam MP Sim Chee Keong yesterday.

Sim had asked for the latest information on unemployment and underemployment categorised by age, gender, state, race and education level.

The general rate of unemployment in the country for the first half of 2015 was 3.1 percent, Wahid said.

Meanwhile, the number of people who are underemployed - those working less than 30 hours a week - for the first half of 2015 is 609,300. -Mkini