Malaysia Jobless Rate Hits Over 11-Year Low

2026-01-09 04:14 By Chusnul Chotimah 1 min. read

Malaysia’s unemployment rate declined to 2.9% in November 2025 from 3.2% a year earlier, reaching its lowest level since November 2014.

The number of unemployed persons fell 4.3% year-on-year to a near six-year low of 518.4 thousand, while employment rose 3.1% to a record high of 17.09 million, lifting the employment rate to 68.8% from 68.3%.

The number of employed persons in the services sector continued to show steady growth, as did employment in the agriculture, manufacturing, construction, and mining & quarrying sectors.

Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate increased to 70.9%, maintaining a record peak, from 70.5% in the same month a year earlier.

However, youth unemployment (ages 15–24) declined to 10.1% in November from 10.4% a year earlier, staying at the lowest level since January 2020 for the third straight month.

In October 2025, the unemployment rate stood at 3.0%.



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