Kuala Lumpur:Malaysia's unemployment rate decreased to 2.9% in August 2026, down from 3.0% in July, with the number of unemployed individuals reducing by 8,700 to 511,600, as reported by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

According to BERNAMA News Agency, DOSM's Labour Force Statistics for August 2026 reveal an increase in employed persons by 0.2% to 16.87 million, compared to 16.85 million in the previous month. The labour force saw a slight expansion of 0.1% to 17.39 million, with the participation rate rising to 71.0% from 70.9%.

The employee category, which constitutes 74.9% of the total employed population, experienced a marginal growth of 0.1% to 12.63 million in August. Additionally, the number of own-account workers rose by 0.2% to 3.17 million.

Actively unemployed individuals, those available and seeking work, made up 79.2% of the total unemployed. Their numbers fell by 1.8% to 405,100. Of this group, 64.2% had been unemployed for less than three months, while long-term unemployment accounted for 5%. Inactively unemployed individuals, who believed no jobs were available, decreased by 1.2% to 106,500.

Youth unemployment, for those aged 15 to 24, declined to 10.1%, with the number of unemployed in this group reducing to 291,300. For youths aged 15 to 30, the unemployment rate dropped to 6.3%, with 394,600 individuals unemployed.

Additionally, the number of people outside the labour force slightly decreased by 0.1% to 7.11 million. The main reasons for this were housework and family responsibilities, accounting for 43.6%, and attending school or training, accounting for 40.2%. The remaining 16.2% cited reasons such as retirement and disability.

DOSM noted that the continued positive performance of the labour market supports Malaysia's economic growth. They emphasized the importance of enhancing worker productivity through skills development and technology adoption for sustainable economic growth and improved well-being.