Overview

Malaysia’s labour productivity as measured by value added per hour worked rebounded to 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 after registering  negative  0.8  per  cent  in  the  preceding  quarter.  During  this  quarter,  value  added  contracted  0.5 per cent (Q4 2020: -3.4%) with hours worked lessened by 0.9 per cent (Q4 2020: -2.7%). In the meantime, labour productivity expressed as the ratio of value added per employment recorded a marginal decline of 0.4 per cent  as compared to negative 2.9 per cent in Q4 2020. Employment decreased at a slower rate of negative 0.04 per cent (Q4 2020: -0.6%). In terms of labour productivity level, value added per hour worked was RM40 per hour in Q1 2021 (Q4 2020: RM42 per hour) while value added per employment was RM22,516 per person (Q4 2020: RM23,604 per person).

In this quarter,  the growth of labour productivity in terms of value added  per  hour  worked  for  Agriculture  sector  turned around to 0.1 per cent (Q4 2020: -0.8%). The value added and  hours  worked  of  this  sector  expanded by 0.4 per cent  (Q4 2020: -1.0%) and 0.3 per cent (Q4 2020: -0.3%) respectively.  The  highest  labour  productivity  growth  was  recorded  by  Forestry  &  Logging.  Meanwhile,  labour  productivity  expressed  as  the  ratio  of  value  added  to employment rebounded to 1.6 per cent as against negative 0.7 per cent in the preceding quarter while employment continued its negative growth of 1.2 per cent (Q4 2020: -0.4%). In terms of level, value added per hour worked for this sector in Q1 2021 was RM23 per hour (Q4 2020: RM25 per hour)  while value added per employment was RM12,191 per person (Q4 2020: RM13,115 per person).

Mining  and  Quarrying  sector  recorded  a  smaller  decline of  2.1  per  cent for labour  productivity  by  hours  worked  as  compared  to  negative  6.2  per  cent  in  the  preceding  quarter.  During  this  quarter,  value  added  shrunk 5.0 per cent (Q4 2020:-10.4%) while hours worked remained its negative growth for seven consecutive quarters at 3.0 per cent (Q4 2020: -4.5%). Labour productivity by value added per employment for this sector decreased 3.7 per cent  as against negative 9.0 per cent in the previous quarter. In addition, employment recorded a negative growth of 1.4 per cent since Q1 2020 (Q4 2020: -1.6%). Value added per hour worked for Mining & Quarrying sector was RM555 per hour in Q1 2021 (Q4 2020: RM581 per hour) while  value added per employment was RM328,213 per person (Q4 2020: RM348,371 per person).

In Q1 2021, labour productivity as measured by value added per hour worked in Manufacturing sector grew  8.5  per cent (Q4 2020: 6.0%). Value added of this sector expanded by 6.6 per cent (Q4 2020: 3.0%), which was a positive growth for three consecutive quarters while hours worked decreased 1.7 per cent (Q4 2020: -2.8%). Sub-sector of Beverages and tobacco product (22.8%) recorded the highest growth of labour productivity by hours worked followed by Transport equipment, other manufacturing and repair (12.9%) and Wood products, furniture, paper products & printing (12.8%) sub-sectors. The growth of labour productivity per employment for Manufacturing sector increased 5.9 per cent (Q4 2020: 3.2%) as employment rebounded to 0.7 per cent (Q4 2020: -0.2%). Level of labour productivity which measured as  value added per hour worked was RM55 per hour in Q1 2021 (Q4 2020: RM56 per hour) while  value added per employment was RM31,522 per person (Q4 2020: RM32,589 per person).

Construction sector posted a negative growth of 8.6 per cent in Q1 2021 (Q4 2020: -6.7%) for labour productivity per hour worked. The growth of value added in this sector remained subdued at negative 10.4 per cent (Q4 2020: -13.9%) while hours worked decreased 2.0 per cent (Q4 2020: -7.7%). In this quarter, labour productivity by value added per employment for this sector declined 8.2 per cent (Q4 2020: -8.4%) while employment recorded smaller decline at negative 2.4 per cent as opposed negative 6.0 per cent in Q4 2020. Level of labour productivity which measured as value added per hour worked  was  RM17 per  hour  (Q4 2020: RM17 per hour)  while value added per employment was  RM9,924  per  person  (Q4 2020: RM10,201 per person).

Services  sector  posted  a  growth  of  labour productivity in terms of value added per hour worked with a rate of negative 1.7  per  cent  (Q4 2020: -2.7%). Value  added  of  this  sector  remained  sluggish  at  negative  2.3  per  cent  (Q4 2020: -4.8%) while hours worked decreased 0.6 per cent (Q4 2020: -2.2%). During this quarter, the highest growth of labour productivity by hours worked in Services sector was  recorded  by  Finance & insurance sub-sector (9.7%).  This  was  followed  by  Information  & communication and Wholesale & Retail Trade sub-sectors which posted a growth of 4.7 per cent and 1.0 per cent respectively.  Measuring labour productivity per employment for this sector, declined 2.6 per cent (Q4 2020: -4.9%) as employment grew by 0.4 per cent (Q4 2020: 0.1%). In terms of labour productivity level, value added per hour worked in Q1 2021 for Services sector was RM38 per hour (Q4 2020: RM39 per hour) while value added per employment was RM21,110 per person (Q4 2020: RM22,332 per person).

The detailed information and technical notes are published in the publication of Labour Productivity First Quarter 2021. This report is accessible and downloadable free of charge through the eStatistik application in DOSM web page, www.dosm.gov.my.

Released By:

DATO' SRI DR. MOHD UZIR MAHIDIN
CHIEF STATISTICIAN MALAYSIA
DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS, MALAYSIA
 DrUzir_Mahidin    Dr_Uzir

20 May 2021

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