Page 238 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 4

CPS2214 Riyanti S. et al.
expressed in terms of percentage, used as one of the indicators to determine
share of working age population in the labour market. Those not classified as
employed or unemployed were identified as outside labour force. This
category consists of homemakers, students, retirees, disabled persons and
those who are not interested in working.
An employed person was further classified into categories of occupation,
sector and employment status consisting of employer, employee, own account
worker and unpaid family worker. Employer operates a business, a plantation
or other trade and employs one or more workers to help him/her. Meanwhile,
own account worker operates his/her own farm, business or trade without
employing any paid workers in a continuous basis. Another status of
employment was unpaid family worker, a person who works without pay or
wages on a farm, business or trade operated by another member of the family.
Education attainment refers to the highest level in which a person has
completed schooling or is currently attending, in a public or private
educational institution that provide formal education. There are four levels of
education attainment which are no formal education, primary, secondary and
tertiary.
Survey data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS version 22) and Microsoft Office Excel. Weighting the survey data was
required to infer the sample to represent the survey population. Several
descriptive data analysis techniques were utilised to identify the trend of LFPR
as well as to profile the demographic characteristics of populations in and
outside the labour force.

3. Results
Out of 8.4 million working age population in 1982, there was 64.8 per cent
or 5.4 million labour force while 35.2 per cent or 2.9 million outside labour
force (Table 3.1). After 36 years, the working age population grew 2.7 per cent
per annum to reach 22.4 million, while the labour force grew at a faster rate of
2.9 per cent, registering 14.8 million labour force or LFPR of 68.3 per cent. Of
this, male working age population expanded 2.8 per cent annually while labour
force registered slower growth of 2.7 per cent.

Table 3.1: Principal labour force statistics, Malaysia, 1982, 2010 & 2018
Sex Year Labour force Employed Outside LFPR Unemployment
labour force rate
('000) ('000) ('000) (%) (%)
1982 5,431.4 5,249.0 2,944.6 64.8 3.4
Male +
Female 2010 12,303.9 11,899.5 7,023.0 63.7 3.3
2018 15,280.3 14,776.0 7,094.4 68.3 3.3
1982 3,562.3 3,465.3 611.5 85.3 2.7
Male 2010 7,955.5 7,707.8 2,071.7 79.3 3.1
2018 9,330.2 9,041.8 2,271.3 80.4 3.1

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