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THE number of unemployed in Malaysia fell to 518,600 in September 2025, representing an unemployment rate of 3 per cent, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). In August, the unemployment figure stood at 520,000.
Chief Statistician, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, attributed the improvement to strong economic performance, which bolstered the nation’s labour force through increased employment, reduced unemployment, and inclusive regional development.
“In line with this, the labour force continued to expand with a 0.2 per cent increase to 17.54 million people compared with 17.51 million in August. Meanwhile, the labour force participation rate remained steady at 70.9 per cent, unchanged from the previous month,” he said in a statement today.
The number of employed rose by 0.2 per cent to 17.03 million in September, compared with 16.99 million in August. Dr Mohd Uzir noted that the category of employees comprised 74.9 per cent of total employment, increasing slightly by 0.1 per cent to 12.74 million from 12.73 million in the previous month.
The number of self-employed also rose 0.4 per cent to 3.24 million, up from 3.22 million in August.
Discussing the unemployment landscape, he said that those actively seeking work or classified as active unemployed made up 79.8 per cent of total unemployment.
“This category recorded a decline of 0.3 per cent, with numbers dropping to 413,600 from 414,900 in the previous month. Within this group, short-term unemployed, or those out of work for less than three months, accounted for 64.6 per cent, while long-term unemployed exceeding one year comprised 4.9 per cent,” he explained.
On the overall performance for the third quarter of 2025, Dr Mohd Uzir said the labour force grew 0.7 per cent to 17.49 million compared with 17.37 million in the second quarter. The participation rate increased 0.1 percentage point to 70.9 per cent from 70.8 per cent in the previous quarter.
“In line with this trend, total employment rose 0.7 per cent to 16.97 million (Q2 2025: 16.85 million), while unemployment fell by 0.2 per cent to 519,900 (Q2 2025: 520,900),” he said. - November 10, 2025
