COMMENT | When everything seems to be falling down, be it the global oil prices, gross domestic product (GDP), or the global economy as a whole, there are a few macroeconomic indicators in which values are rising, one of which is unemployment.

Earlier this month, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) had released the results of a survey on the "Effects of Covid-19 on Economic and Individuals (Round One)" with a total of 168,182 respondents nationwide participating in it.

According to the study, almost 47 percent self-employed workers had lost their jobs – about 19,677 respondents. As for those who still have jobs, 35.5 percent reported a decrease in income by over 90 percent.

If the percentage is taken on an actual scale, this means that out of the 2.86 million self-employed workers, 1.34 million workers have lost their jobs. And almost 540,000 experienced a 90 percent decline in income.

However, this is only for those who are self-employed, not even taking into account workers who have employers...