Joblessness among youths is rising with young graduates consisting of 23% of the group, said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
The central bank said unemployment was on the rise as growth in hiring slowed since late 2014, and was estimated to have reached 10.7% in 2015, more than three times the national unemployment rate of 3.1%.
“In 2015, youth unemployment rate increased by 1.2 percentage points from an estimated 9.5% to 10.7%, while the national unemployment rate increased by only 0.2 percentage points (2.9% to 3.1%) during the same period,” said BNM in its Annual Report 2016 released today.
Businesses have been restrained by cautious business sentiments and moderating economic performance from expanding their workforce, and youths have been the most vulnerable in this situation, it said.
“They are likely to be the last to be hired and the first to be made redundant due to their lack of experience, higher information asymmetry in the labour market, and poor ability to communicate their skills effectively to employers.”
Among working youths, the chart tends to skew towards those with lower education levels, it said. Of those aged 15 to 24, only 16% have had tertiary education, while the highest level of schooling attained by the remaining 84% is secondary education.
“Notably, youths with tertiary education make up a relatively larger share of unemployed youths (23% of total unemployed youths). Of concern, among those with tertiary educational attainment, the unemployment rate is higher at 15.3% (youths without tertiary education: 9.8%),” it said.
