Kedah’s unemployment rate is at 1.7% or less than 25,000, says executive councillor Wong Chia Zhen.
The human resources committee chairman said this in refuting a claim that more than 100,000 youths are unemployed, using official data released by the statistics department.
Wong criticised the claim as irresponsible, saying it may lead to public anxiety and tarnish Kedah’s image.
“Kedah’s unemployment rate has consistently declined over the past two years, standing at 1.7% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“With Kedah’s labour force of around 65% from 2.13 million people, an unemployment rate of 1.7% means there are fewer than 25,000 people unemployed.
“The claim of 100,000 jobless youths in Kedah is clearly inaccurate and inconsistent with official figures,” he said in a statement.
He was responding to Sekretariat Suara Anak Kedah director Sulaiman Ibrahim, who claimed at the Honggaq Kedah rally yesterday that 100,000 youths in the state were unemployed, despite the state government’s claim that it had succeeded in securing major investments.
Wong, who is also the Kulim assemblyman, compared Kedah’s figures with the national unemployment rate of 3.1% to 3.2%, or over 530,000 unemployed people.
“This clearly shows that although Kedah has fewer than 25,000 unemployed, the figure is far lower than the national average, thereby debunking the accusations made,” he said.
Wong said the federal and state governments will continue to find ways to lower the unemployment rate, including through skill enhancement programmes, career fairs, and collaboration with investors to create more job opportunities.
“If there are real issues that require attention, I am ready to work with the human resources minister in the interest of Kedahans. Spreading false figures is malicious and could damage investor confidence,” he said.
