KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia saw its lowest unemployment rate in 11 years last November, reaching 2.9 per cent, with the number of unemployed people declining to 518,400, according to the Statistics Department.
The last time the unemployment rate dropped below three per cent was in November 2014, according to the country’s chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
“The total number of employed persons increased by 0.2 per cent to 17.09 million from 17.06 million in October 2025,” Mohd Uzir said in a statement, quoted by local media.
“Meanwhile, the number of unemployed persons declined marginally by 0.1 per cent to 518,400 from 518,900 a month earlier.”
Mohd Uzir said that favourable economic conditions in November continued to support steady growth in the labour market.
He added that the number of categorised employees had risen by 0.1 per cent to 12.78 million, compared with 12.76 million in October.
“Own-account” workers – those who are considered self-employed – also increased by 0.3 per cent to 3.26 million from 3.25 million in the previous month.
With regards to unemployment, Mohd Uzir said that those available for and actively seeking work accounted for 79.8 per cent of total unemployment. This was a small drop of 0.1 per cent to 413,500 from 413,800 in October.
Of this group, 64.4 per cent had been unemployed for less than three months, while 5.0 per cent had been unemployed for more than a year.
In contrast, the inactively unemployed or those who believed no jobs were available, declined by 0.2 per cent to 104,900 from 105,100 in October.
Mohd Uzir said the labour market is expected to remain stable and grow positively in coming months.
Key growth areas included human health, social work, wholesale and retail trade, and accommodation and food services.
Growth was also recorded in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, and mining and quarrying.
Mohd Uzir cited emerging job opportunities in strategic sectors and ongoing reskilling initiatives as supporting factors.
“Therefore, Malaysia’s labour market is forecast to remain competitive, inclusive and resilient in addressing global challenges,” he added.
Malaysia’s currency has also shown signs of strengthening.
On Jan 9, the ringgit strengthened against the Singapore dollar to about RM3.16 (US$0.77), compared to about RM3.29 on the same date last year, according to media platform Bernama.
In December 2025, the ringgit reached its strongest level against the US dollar in more than four years.
The ringgit rose 0.5 per cent versus the greenback to 4.0860 on Dec 12, the highest since May 2021. With a gain of over 9 per cent against the US dollar to date in 2025, it was Asia’s best-performing currency in 2025.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-unemployment-rate-hits-11-year-low-5850021
