13th August 2026 - 2 min read
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.0% in June, while the number of employed people edged up to 16.83 million from 16.82 million a month earlier. Together, the figures suggest the job market has remained broadly stable, with no signs of widespread layoffs.
The labour force also continued to grow, reaching 17.34 million people.The labour force participation rate remained at 70.9%, meaning about seven in 10 working-age Malaysians were either working or looking for work.
As in previous months, the services sector remained the biggest source of jobs, led by transportation and storage, accommodation and food and beverage services, as well as wholesale and retail trade. Manufacturing and construction also recorded employment growth, while agriculture and mining saw declines.
The number of unemployed people rose slightly to 517,800 in June from 513,400 in May. However, because more people also entered the workforce during the month, the unemployment rate remained unchanged.
Outside the labour force, 7.11 million people were neither working nor actively looking for work. Housework and family responsibilities remained the biggest reason, accounting for 43.3% of this group, followed by schooling and training at 40.3%.
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Christina writes about personal finance with an eye for making the complicated feel straightforward. She is drawn to the everyday money decisions people face and genuinely enjoys finding the clearest way to explain them. Between articles, she is probably napping, on a hiking trail, or terrorising her sister’s cats.
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