KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's labor productivity grew 3.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, said the country's statistics department Thursday.

As comparison, the country's labor productivity rose 4.1 percent in Q3.

During the fourth quarter, Malaysia's economy expanded 5.9 percent; employment rose by 2.2 percent.

The department said in a statement that the agricultural sector registered labor productivity growth of 4.8 percent in the fourth quarter; the mining and quarrying sector's labor productivity rose 4.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing and construction sectors' labor productivity were up 3.6 percent and 1.4 percent respectively. Labor productivity of services sector also increased by 4.7 percent.

For the year 2017, labor productivity increased by 3.6 percent, slightly higher than 3.5 percent in 2016.

The labor productivity growth last year was in line with the expansion of value added at 5.9 percent, and employment growth of 2.2 percent.