Malaysia’s labour market remained strong in the second quarter of 2025, supported by a continued increase in employed persons, reaching 16.85 million persons, with a rate of filled jobs of 97.9 per cent.

Key Reviews

• In Q2 2025, the labour supply sustained its growth momentum compared to the same quarter in 2024 with increased 2.7 per cent year-on-year of labour force recorded 17.37 million persons. Therefore, the labour force participation rate edged up by 0.1 percentage points to 70.8 per cent. The number of employed persons increase 2.9 per cent to 16.85 million persons, with employment-to-population ratio trend up to 68.7 per cent. Concurrently, the number of unemployed persons declined by 4.4 per cent (-23.7 thousand) to 520.9 thousand persons, while the unemployment rate edged down slightly from 3.2 per cent to 3.0 per cent in the same quarter in preceding year.

• The number of employed persons working less than 30 hours per week continued to trend down by 10.7 per cent from Q2 2024 to 241.0 thousand persons, driven by strong domestic demand throughout Q2 2025. Accordingly, the rate of time-related underemployment declined to 0.8 per cent. In the meantime, skill-related underemployment, which comprised more than one-third of employed persons with tertiary education, decreased by 0.7 percentage points to 35.6 per cent in Q2 2025. 

• Looking at labour demand in the economic sector, the number of jobs grew by 1.6 per cent year-on-year to record a total of 9.10 million jobs. Filled jobs, which comprised 97.9 per cent, also increased by 1.6 per cent over the same quarter of the preceding year to 8.90 million. Meanwhile, job openings in the economy, as indicated by the number of vacancies, rose by 1.8 per cent to 194.9 thousand vacancies during Q2 2025. Additionally, the number of jobs created in the economic sector rose by 0.2 per cent year-on-year, reaching 31.9 thousand.

• Malaysia's economy expanded by 4.4 per cent, aligned with employment sustained positive growth, labour productivity as measured by value added per employment posted an increase of 2.8 per cent registering the level of RM24,887 per person in Q2 2025. During the same period, total hours worked surged by 3.4 per cent to 9.76 billion hours. Thus, labour productivity per hour worked grew 3.4 per cent to bring the level of productivity to RM43.2 per hour. 

• Looking ahead to the third quarter of 2025, Malaysia’s economy is expected to maintain its resilience, driven by stable domestic activity and sustained policy support. The performance of the labour market points towards a progressive trajectory, consistent with the nation’s broader transformation into a high-income, technologically advanced, and inclusive economy. Moving forward, continued emphasis on policy adaptability, skills development, and workforce efficiency will remain key priorities in further strengthening the resilience of Malaysia’s labour market.

The full publication of Labour Market Review (LMR), Second Quarter 2025 can be downloaded through eStatistik Portal.

Released by:

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS MALAYSIA
22 August 2025