PUTRAJAYA: The number of unemployed persons in Malaysia decreased further to 518,600 in September 2025, recording an unemployment rate of 3.0%, according to the Statistics Department.
In August 2025, the number of unemployed stood at 520,000.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the positive economic performance had strengthened Malaysia’s labour market in September, with more people employed, fewer unemployed, and continued growth in inclusive regional development.
"In line with that, the labour force expanded further, increasing by 0.2% to 17.54 million persons (August 2025: 17.51 million persons). The labour force participation rate (LFPR) remained unchanged at 70.9%,” he said in a statement on Monday (Nov 10).
The number of employed persons in September increased by 0.2% to 17.03 million persons, compared to 16.99 million persons in August.
Mohd Uzir said employees accounted for 74.9% of the total employed persons, increasing slightly by 0.1% to 12.74 million (August 2025: 12.73 million).
The number of own-account workers also grew by 0.4% to 3.24 million (August 2025: 3.22 million).
On the unemployment landscape, he said actively unemployed persons-those available for and actively seeking work, made up 79.8% of total unemployed persons.
"This group declined by 0.3% to 413,600 persons compared with 414,900 in the previous month. Of these, 64.6% were unemployed for less than three months, while 4.9% were in long-term unemployment for over a year," he said.
For the third quarter of 2025, Mohd Uzir said the labour force expanded by 0.7% to 17.49 million persons (Q2 2025: 17.37 million).
The LFPR increased slightly by 0.1 percentage points to 70.9% from 70.8% in the previous quarter.
"Following this upward trend, the number of employed persons also rose by 0.7% to 16.97 million (Q2 2025: 16.85 million), while the number of unemployed declined by 0.2% to 519,900 (Q2 2025: 520,900)," he added. - Bernama
