Kuala Lumpur - A total of 30,650 foreign and local workers have been retrenched in Malaysia this year because of the global economic crisis, the official Bernama news agency reported Thursday.

A total of 23,149 workers were laid off under retrenchment schemes between January 1 and Monday while the rest quit, said Maznah Mazlan, deputy minister of human resources.

Maznah said about 2,900 of the local workers have since been re-employed in the private and public sectors.

Malaysia's unemployment rate was 3.5 per cent last year, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from 2007. Government officials have predicted the rate would rise to at least 4.5 per cent this year.

Maznah said the government would promote training programmes to aid retrenched workers in finding new jobs.

Malaysia's workforce accounts for almost half its 25 million population. The government is struggling to revive its ailing economy, which is mainly manufacturing- and agriculture-driven, amid rising unemployment and a recession.(dpa)