Monday, 08 Mar 2021 04:02 PM MYT Staff at a car wash centre are seen hard at work in Kuala Lumpur February 6, 2021. — Picture by Hari Anggara Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on news you need to know. KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 — 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 today.