PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s labour market remained stable and resilient in August supported by continued economic growth and stronger labour participation with the unemployment rate holding at 3% and the number of unemployed persons declining to 520,000 according to Labour Force Statistics, Malaysia, August 2025.
Chief Statistician of the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said Malaysia’s continued strong economic performance drove the labour market to remain stable and resilient in August 2025, reflected in the continuous increase in the number of employed persons accompanied by a lower number of unemployed.
"The labour force further strengthened during the month, rising by 0.2 per cent month-on-month to 17.51 million persons (July 2025: 17.47 million persons) and as a result, the labour force participation rate edged up by 0.1 percentage points to 70.9 per cent (July 2025: 70.8 per cent), signalling higher labour participation in the market,” he said in a statement on Friday (Oct 10).
Mohd Uzir said the number of employed persons in August also rose by 0.2 per cent to 16.99 million persons (July 2025: 16.95 million persons), while the number of unemployed persons declined by 0.3 per cent to 520,000 reversing the previous month’s increase (July 2025: 521,600 persons) with the unemployment rate remaining at 3.0 per cent as in July.
Elaborating further, he said out of the total employed persons in August 2025, 74.9 per cent were classified into the employees’ category which grew by 0.2 per cent to 12.73 million persons (July 2025: 12.71 million persons) while the number of own-account workers edged up by 0.5 per cent to 3.22 million persons compared to 3.21 million in July.
Across economic sectors, he said employment in the services sector continued to record strong growth in August particularly in wholesale and retail trade, information and communication as well as accommodation and food and beverage services while employment in manufacturing, construction, mining and quarrying and agriculture sectors also posted gains.
"Malaysia’s labour market is expected to remain resilient in the coming months supported by stable economic growth increased labour demand and the recovery of key sectors such as services and manufacturing.
"Overall, the labour market is on a strong path and is anticipated to achieve its best performance in over a decade, provided the current positive momentum is sustained and continues to show encouraging progress,” he said. - Bernama
