“Malaysia’s Youth Unemployment Rate Lower Than NZ and Australia,” Says Minister

Times are hard for most of us, especially when it comes to job-hunting as a fresh graduate. Youth unemployment remains a prevalent global issue as politicians and officials all over the world continue to work in efforts to resolve it.

This issue was also recently brought up earlier today at the Dewan Rakyat, when a member of parliament inquired Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh about Malaysia’s most recent youth unemployment rate.

According to the Malay Mail Online, the minister reportedly told the Dewan Rakyat that the unemployment rate among Malaysians between 15 and 24 years of age was at 12.4 per cent.

He stated that this percentage is lower than the youth unemployment rates of New Zealand (14 per cent), Australia (12.5 per cent), the Philippines (13.5 per cent), and Indonesia (19 per cent).

Source: the sun daily

Datuk Seri Idris also noted that the rate of marketability of graduates in this country is 79.1 per cent.

Recent statistics from Bank Negara Malaysia show that the youth unemployment rate was estimated to have reached 10.7 per cent in 2015, showing a decrease in unemployment when compared to the peak rate of 13.2 per cent in 2013.

On top of that, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research) reported that there were about 273,400 unemployed youths at the end of 2016. 

However, our most recent rate of 12.4 per cent shows that there has been an increase in youth unemployment once again.

Source: borneo post

Youths still remain as one of the groups with the highest unemployment rates in the country, registering at double-digit rates since 2012. An excerpt from MIDF Research’s report reads,

“Economic slowdown causes youth unemployment to remain high. Malaysia’s economy grew by 4.2 per cent in 2016, the lowest since 2010. Persistent low global commodities prices impacted our economy to decelerate which saw investment and exports of goods and services expanded at modest pace by 2.7 and 0.1 per cent respectively in 2016.”

This economic slowdown is believed to be one of the reasons behind high youth unemployment rates.

What is your take on the higher education minister’s statement? Let us know in the comments below!

Also read: Poor English is Why Malaysian Graduates Find it Hard to Get Jobs