PUTRAJAYA: The national labour productivity in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 grew by 1.9% to record RM42 per hour compared to RM41.2 per hour in the same quarter last year.
According to the Labour Productivity Statistics, First Quarter 2024 issued by the Department of Statistics Malaysia today, the growth was supported by the favourable economic position, stable labour market conditions and low unemployment rates.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said labour productivity per employment recorded a 2% growth to register RM24,230 per person, compared to RM23,744 per person in Q1 2023.
“Malaysia’s labour productivity posted 1.9% growth with total hours worked increased 2.2% to register 9.5 billion hours, aligned with 4.2% economic growth in Q1 2024.
“The total number of employment registered was 16.4 million persons, indicating year-on-year growth of 2.1% in Q1 2024, compared to 16.3 million persons in Q4 2023,” he said in a statement.
In terms of sectoral performance for labour productivity measured as value added per hour worked, Mohd Uzir said the construction sector drove the overall performance by posting a significant increase of 12.5% year-on-year, followed by the mining and quarrying sector (2.7%), services sector (1.8%) and agriculture (0.9%).
The manufacturing sector shrunk at a -0.3%, he said.
“By looking at the sectoral performance for labour productivity as expressed by value added per employment, all sectors showed an increase, led by the construction sector at 10.7% year-on-year, followed by the mining and quarrying sector (5.7%), the services sector (1.9%), the agriculture sector (1.5%) and the manufacturing sector (0.2%),” he said.
Meanwhile, six subsectors that contributed to the positive growth in labour productivity per employment for the services sector were transportation and storage (8.1%), real estate and business services (7.3%), other services (3.6%), utilities (3.6%), wholesale and retail trade (1.2%), and information and communication (0.5%).
The other two subsectors recorded negative growth, namely finance and insurance (-1.3%) and food, beverages and accommodation (-0.4%).
Mohd Uzir said the labour productivity is expected to post a better outlook as Malaysia’s economy recovers.
“The positive momentum of labour market growth and thriving business activities, as well as strengthening human capital, are among the factors for the enhancement of labour productivity,” he said.
