Malaysia's labour market remains stable as the unemployment rate remains at a decade-low of 3.0% for four consecutive months to July 2025.
According to an economic report by Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB), the stability of the unemployment rate is supported by faster job growth than labour force growth.
The number of employees increased by 3.1% year-on-year to 16.95 million people in July 2025, driven by hiring in the service sectors such as wholesale and retail trade, accommodation and food and beverage.
At the same time, a total of 6,365 workers were laid off in July 2025, an increase of 22.8% compared to the same period last year and 20.6% compared to the previous month.
During the first seven months of 2025, the number of layoffs increased by 30.3% to 40,370 people.
Analysts say the low unemployment rate signals that a large proportion of laid-off workers are successfully re-employed.
Another major development in the labour market is the continued rise of the ‘Own-account Workers’ group, including gig workers, hawkers and small traders.
In July 2025, the number of own-account workers – who represent the bulk of informal employment in the economy – rose to 3.21 million.
