PUTRAJAYA, Aug 11 — June’s unemployment rate held at 3 per cent, with jobless numbers declining to 518,700, showed the Labour Force Statistics for June and the Second Quarter (Q2) of 2025, released today.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the labour market maintained its positive growth momentum in June, driven by the national economy’s continued expansion.
“This was reflected in a steady rise in employment and a further decline in unemployment. Thus, the labour force continued its upward trend in June 2025, increasing by 0.3 per cent month-on-month to 17.43 million persons (May 2025: 17.38 million).
“The labour force participation rate (LFPR) in June 2025 stood at 70.8 per cent, consistent with the rate recorded in May,” he said in a statement today.
Commenting on the overall performance for Q2, Uzir said the labour force experienced a growth of 0.8 per cent to 17.37 million persons compared with 17.23 million in Q1.
Meanwhile, the LFPR increased marginally by 0.1 percentage points to 70.8 per cent, compared with 70.7 per cent the previous quarter.
“Reflecting this trend, the number of employed persons increased by 0.9 percent to 16.85 million persons (Q1 2025: 16.7 million persons). Meanwhile, the number of unemployed persons showed a decline of 1 per cent to 520.9 thousand persons (Q1 2025: 526.3 thousand persons).
“The unemployment rate for Q2 2025 dropped by 0.1 percentage points to 3 per cent, compared with the previous quarter,” he said.
Uzir said Malaysia’s labour market is expected to remain stable in the coming months, supported by rising domestic demand, higher productivity, more job opportunities and broad-based investments, particularly in technology and strategic sectors.
“Although there are challenges such as talent migration, global trade tensions and inflation, government policies focusing on digitalisation, technical training and investment incentives are expected to sustain medium- to long-term growth,” Uzir added.
