PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia's labour demand grew by 1.8% year-on-year (y-o-y), reaching 9.23 million jobs in the first quarter of this year, according to the Employment Statistics for Q1 2026 released by the Statistics Department Malaysia (DOSM) on Thursday (May 14).
This compared with 9.05 million jobs recorded in Q1 2025.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin (pic) said that amid the global supply crisis triggered by the conflict in the Middle East, Malaysia's economic sector remained durable in the first three months of 2026 and growth was cushioned by contingency measures from the government to buffer against rising global uncertainties such as the rationalisation of fuel subsidies.
"Of the total jobs, 97.9% were filled while the remaining 2.1% were vacant. In addition, 32,700 new jobs were created during this quarter," he said in a statement Thursday.
Filled jobs also recorded an upward momentum during Q1 2026 at 1.8% y-o-y, registering a total of 9.03 million jobs, up from 8.87 million in Q1 2025.
This growth was supported by positive y-o-y expansions across most economic sectors, with the services sector leading at 2.7%, the highest among all sectors.
At the same time, the services sector continued to dominate filled jobs, accounting for 53.3% (4.82 million), followed by manufacturing (26.7%; 2.41 million) and construction (13.9%; 1.25 million).
On the performance of jobs created, Mohd Uzir said a moderate y-o-y decline of 1.5% was recorded, with a total of 32,700 jobs created.
"Despite this slight decrease, Malaysia continued to demonstrate its ability to create new jobs, reflecting sustained demand for labour in the economy," he said.
These statistics were published in a report derived from an employment survey conducted among registered private sector businesses.
The report presented labour demand statistics encompassing the number of jobs, filled jobs, job vacancies and jobs created indicators by skills category and economic activity. – Bernama
