PUTRAJAYA: The number of unemployed people in the country has dropped to 555,300 with an unemployment rate of 3.2%, according to the September and third quarter (Q3) labour force statistics by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the decreasing number of unemployed (558,500 in August) and increase in the number of working people is a follow-up to the country’s encouraging economic performance and labour market position.
“The labour force continued to grow in September with an increase of 0.1% to 17.24 million people,” he said in a statement.
Mohd Uzir said the unemployment rate for youth saged 15 to 24 increased 0.1% to 10.5% from last month with 304,200 people, compared to 303,000 individuals in August.
The unemployment rate for youths aged 15 to 30 dropped to 6.3%, recording 420,100 youths unemployed.
For the month of August, the figure was 428,500 youths.
On overall performance for the third quarter of the year, Mohd Uzir said the labour force is showing a positive trend, increasing by 0.7% quarter- to-quarter to 17.26 million people.
“The working population increased by 0.7% to 16.72 million people while the unemployed decreased by 1.8% to 547,900 people.
“This has resulted in an unemployment rate of 3.2% in Q3 this year compared to 3.3% in Q2 2024,” he said, Bernama reported.
