THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ASSOCIATED LOCKDOWNS ON UNEMPLOYMENT IN MALAYSIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjssh.v7i4.1335Keywords:
unemployment, COVID-19, lockdown, ARIMA-interventionAbstract
The current public health crisis, namely the COVID-19 pandemic, is not confined to a single region but is a worldwide occurrence. A nationwide lockdown is the only viable option for containing and mitigating the effects of this pandemic. However, the after-effects of the lockdown, namely unemployment, have disturbed and destroyed the labor market. Malaysia has experienced three outbreaks of the COVID-19 pandemic and four lockdowns with high stringency. Hence, this paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreaks and associated lockdowns on unemployment in Malaysia, and it is important to understand the power of each outbreak and lockdown on unemployment. This paper refers to the monthly unemployment rate from January 2016 to December 2021. The ARIMA-Intervention is adopted using the three outbreaks of COVID-19 and four types of Movement Control Order (MCO). The findings indicate that the second COVID-19 outbreak significantly impacted unemployment compared to the other two outbreaks. Additionally, among the four rounds of Movement Control Order (MCO), MCO 1.0 had a notable and significant effect on unemployment. Unemployment is exacerbated when a containment policy is implemented unexpectedly. It is suggested that the government establishes a policy to prepare for the future pandemic.
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Copyright (c) 2026 KUANG YONG NG, ZALINA ZAINAL, SHAMZAEFFA SAMSUDIN, RONG QING YEOH, JING NING NG
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