PUTRAJAYA, Nov 10 — The number of unemployed persons in Malaysia decreased further to 518,600 in September 2025, recording an unemployment rate of 3.0 per cent, said the Statistics Department (DOSM).
In August 2025, the number of unemployed stood at 520,000.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri 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 per cent to 17.54 million persons (August 2025: 17.51 million persons). The labour force participation rate (LFPR) remained unchanged at 70.9 per cent,” he said in a statement today.
The number of employed persons in September increased by 0.2 per cent to 17.03 million persons, compared to 16.99 million persons in August 2025.
Uzir added that employees accounted for 74.9 per cent of the total employed persons, increasing slightly by 0.1 per cent to 12.74 million (August 2025: 12.73 million). The number of own-account workers also grew by 0.4 per cent to 3.24 million (August 2025: 3.22 million).
On unemployment, he said that actively unemployed persons — those available for and actively seeking work — accounted for 79.8 per cent of the total unemployed.
“This group declined by 0.3 per cent to 413,600 persons compared with 414,900 in the previous month. Of these, 64.6 per cent were unemployed for less than three months, while 4.9 per cent were in long-term unemployment for over a year,” Uzir said.
For the third quarter of 2025, the labour force expanded by 0.7 per cent to 17.49 million persons (Q2 2025: 17.37 million).
The LFPR increased slightly by 0.1 percentage points to 70.9 per cent from 70.8 per cent in the previous quarter.
“Following this upward trend, the number of employed persons also rose by 0.7 per cent to 16.97 million (Q2 2025: 16.85 million), while the number of unemployed declined by 0.2 per cent to 519,900 (Q2 2025: 520,900),” he said.
