Most job losses at factories, accommodation and F&B sectors - Saravanan

 

According to the Employment Insurance System (EIS) records, a total of 95,995 people have been retrenched between January and Nov 13, 2020.

The official unemployment rate as of September is at 4.6 percent, meaning 737,500 people are out of jobs.

Human Resources Minister M Saravanan shared the EIS figures in a written parliamentary reply to Kuala Kedah MP Azman Ismail yesterday.

A bulk of those retrenched this year previously worked in factories and in the accommodation, food and beverage, warehousing and retail sectors. The professional, technical, administration, support services and construction sectors also appear hard hit.

In reply to a separate question from Jerantut MP Ahmad Nazlan Idris, Saravanan said the unemployment rate for September 2020 was 4.6 percent, equivalent to 737,500 people unemployed.

This is a slight 0.1 percent improvement from the month before (741,600 people unemployed).

The majority did not seek help from EIS

This suggests that a majority of unemployed persons did not seek help from the EIS.

It also showed that unemployment has worsened from the first quarter of 2020 when it was 3.5 percent.

In comparison, Singapore’s unemployment rate in September was 3.6 percent.

Marang lawmaker Abdul Hadi Awang, meanwhile, asked the minister if the government’s Prihatin, Prihatin SME and Penjana initiatives had managed to bring down the unemployment rate among youths.

Among the programmes under the initiatives include wage subsidies, incentives to hire interns and upskilling and reskilling programmes.

Saravanan attributed the reduction of the general unemployment rate - from 5.3 percent in May to 4.7 percent in August - to the initiatives.

The numbers of job losses have also been reducing “every month” since July, he said.

The ministry recorded 18,579 job losses in June, 16,660 in July and 7,310 in October 2020.

Saravanan did not provide job loss figures for August and September. - Mkini