Malaysia’s August 2026 unemployment rate hits new low of 2.9pc

February 9th reported that Malaysia's unemployment rate has reached a new low of 2.9% in August 2026, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). The figure represents a decline from 3.0% in July, with the number of unemployed individuals decreasing by 8,700 to 511,600. The number of employed persons grew by 0.2% to 16.87 million, while the labor force expanded by 0.1% to 17.39 million.

The labor force participation rate slightly increased to 71.0%. The employee category, which made up 74.9% of total employed persons, saw a marginal increase of 0.1% to 12.63 million. Actively unemployed persons, who were both available and seeking work, comprised 79.2% of the total unemployed population and decreased by 1.8% to 405,100.

Among actively unemployed individuals, 64.2% had been unemployed for less than three months, while 5% were long-term unemployed. Inactively unemployed persons, who believed no jobs were available, dropped by 1.2% to 106,500. The unemployment rate among youths aged 15-24 decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 10.1%, and among youths aged 15-30 by the same margin to 6.3%.

The number of persons outside the labor force decreased marginally by 0.1%, or 4,500 persons, to 7.11 million. Reasons for being outside the labor force predominantly included housework and family responsibilities (43.6%), followed by attending school or training (40.2%). Other reasons accounted for 16.2% of the total.