Factors that affecting unemployment rate in selected Asean countries / Muhammad Irfan Musa

This study investigates the effect of foreign direct investment and population growth toward unemployment rate in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore from 1986 — 2016. Unemployment rate is one of the important macroeconomic issues that all government and economic face. The nature and dynamics of the country's economic development are the subjects of close attention of economists and politicians. Foreign investment is an essential factor in the growth of national economies, an important source of capital investment in the national production of goods and services. These indicators determine the investment attractiveness of the country. While, population growth is the increase in the number of individuals in a population. The natural increase in the population is the excess of the number of births over the number of deaths. The population of the entire planet, its age and sex structure, duration and quality of life, the qualification of the labour force, the migration of the population, its socio-economic consequences, all this largely determines the trends in the development of the modern world and its economy. The problems of unemployment in a market economy are becoming increasingly important. When the economies of many countries are on the verge of crises, unemployment can be one of the indicators of the complication of the socioeconomic situation of the government. It affects almost all segments of society, ranging from students to retired senior citizens. Unemployment has the most direct and strong influence on every individual. This study is to determine the effect of foreign direct investment and population growth on unemployment in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. This study using panel data and collecting data from secondary data. It cover 30 years from 1986 until 2016 in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The dependent variable is unemployment rate, while independent variable are foreign direct investment and population growth. The data was collected from World Bank. The finding suggest that there are significant relationship between foreign direct investment and population growth toward unemployment rate.