Halimahton Borhan, Abdul Rahim Ridzuan, Mohamad Idham Md Razak, Rozita Naina Mohamed
Unemployment is a critical issue that affects the wellbeing of citizens and requires attention in many countries, including Malaysia. However, the impact of macroeconomic factors on unemployment rates, such as energy consumption, has not been thoroughly studied. In this paper, we aim to investigate the impact of various macroeconomic variables, including foreign and domestic investment, trade liberalization, inflation, urbanization, economic growth, corruption, and energy consumption on unemployment rates in Malaysia. Using annual data from 1984 to 2020, we utilized the ARDL estimation to analyze the data. The results show a mixed expected impact between the independent and dependent variables in the long run. Although energy consumption has a negative impact on unemployment rates in the short term, this is not the case in the long run. The paper concludes with a list of policy recommendations. © 2023, Econjournals. All rights reserved.
Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia, Melaka City Campus, Malaysia; Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Alor Gajah Campus, Malaysia; Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia; Institute for Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia; Accounting Research Institute, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia; Centre for Economic Development and Policy, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia; Institute for Research on Socio-Economic Policy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia; Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Jasin Campus, Malaysia; Faculty of Technology Management and Technopreneurship, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia, Malaysia; Department of Entrepreneurship and Marketing Studies, Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam Campus, Selangor, Darul Ehsan, 42300, Malaysia