Published on: Tuesday, March 09, 2021 By: Bernama The labour market remained in a challenging situation following the rising number of Covid-19 cases. Kuala Lumpur: The unemployment rate in January 2021 increased slightly to 4.9 per cent against 4.8 per cent in December 2020, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). Chief statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the labour market remained in a challenging situation following the rising number of Covid-19 cases. “The reintroduction of the Movement Control Order in most states, with only five essential economic sectors allowed to operate, and restricted inter-state and inter-district travel activities indirectly led to an uneven recovery momentum of businesses and the labour market,” he said based on DOSM’s ‘Key Statistics of Labour Force in Malaysia, January 2021’, released Monday.