Kuala lumpur: Malaysia's unemployment rate returned to 3.0 per cent in April 2026, with 511,800 unemployed persons recorded, according to the Labour Force Statistics for April released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the unemployment rate during the month rose by 0.1 percentage points to 3.0 per cent, returning to the level recorded in October 2025. Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin noted that the number of employed persons continued to increase in April 2026, rising by 0.1 per cent to 16.82 million persons compared to the previous month.

The employees' category made up 75.0 per cent of the total employed persons in April 2026. This category increased marginally by 0.05 per cent to 12.61 million persons. Meanwhile, the number of own-account workers continued its upward trend, rising by 0.2 per cent to 3.15 million persons against the preceding month.

Providing further insight into the unemployment situation in April 2026, Dr Mohd Uzir highlighted that the actively unemployed, defined as those who were available for work and actively seeking jobs, accounted for 79.5 per cent of the total unemployed persons. This group saw an increase of 0.3 per cent to 407,100 persons, with 63.9 per cent of them unemployed for less than three months, while 5.0 per cent were in long-term unemployment for more than a year.

The inactively unemployed, comprising those who believed no jobs were available, went up by 1.5 per cent to 104,700 persons compared with the previous month. Commenting on Malaysia's overall labour force performance for the month, Dr Mohd Uzir stated that the country's labour market continued to show modest growth, reflecting the economy's steady expansion. The labour force edged up 0.1 per cent to 17.33 million persons compared to March 2026, with the labour force participation rate remaining unchanged at 70.9 per cent.