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Employment in the services sector continued to rise steadily in October 2025, mainly attributed by accommodation and food & beverage services; wholesale and retail trade; as well as information and communication activities.
Malaysia's Department of Statistics has released its Labour Force Statistics for October 2025, revealing a continued upward trend in the number of employed persons – up 0.2% (+33,800 persons) to 17.06mn persons, compared to 17.03mn persons the previous month.
The employment-to-population ratio, which indicates the ability of an economy to create employments, also held steady at 68.8% in October 2025, unchanged from September 2025.
According to Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, Chief Statistician Malaysia, the employees’ category made up 74.8% of the total employed persons in October 2025, with a slight increase of 0.1% to 12.76mn persons, up from 12.74mn persons in September 2025. Likewise, the number of own-account workers went up by 0.4% to 3.25mn persons, compared to 3.24mn persons in September 2025.
Additionally, the Chief Statistician shared that the employment in the services sector continued to rise steadily in October 2025, mainly attributed by accommodation and food & beverage services; wholesale and retail trade; as well as information and communication activities.
Similarly, the agriculture, manufacturing, and construction sectors also recorded increases in the number of employed persons, while the employment in the mining & quarrying sector posted decreases.
Dato’ Sri Dr Uzir also explained that the number of persons working less than 30 hours per week continued to decrease, edged down by 1.4% to 233,200 persons in October 2025 (September 2025: 236,500 persons).
Correspondingly, the number of persons working less than 30 hours per week but willing and available to work additional hours or classified as time-related underemployment also declined by 1.7% to 126,400 persons, recording the time-related underemployment rate of 0.7% (September 2025: 128.6 thousand persons; 0.8%).
Unemployment
The number of unemployed persons in October 2025 increased slightly by 0.1% to 518,900 persons from 518,600 persons last month. The unemployment rate during the month was unchanged at 3.0% as recorded in September 2025.
Dato’ Sri Dr Uzir stated that those who were available for work and were actively seeking jobs, or referred to as actively unemployed, represented 79.7% of the total unemployed persons. This category registered a slight increase of 0.03%, with the number rising to 413,800 persons compared to 413,600 persons in the preceding month.
By duration of the unemployment for the actively unemployed during the month, 64.5% were those who had been unemployed for less than three months, while 5.0% were those in long-term unemployment for more than a year. Meanwhile, those who believed that there were no jobs available, or referred to as inactively unemployed, rose by 0.2% to 105,100 persons (September 2025: 104,900 persons).
The unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 years remained unchanged at 10.1%, recording 297,600 unemployed youths in October 2025 (September 2025: 296,900 persons). At the same time, the youth unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 30 years decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 6.1%, with 398,500 unemployed youths (September 2025: 398,100 thousand persons; 6.2%)
Outside the labour force
For the number of persons outside the labour force, the number was on an increasing trend, rising by 0.1% to 7.22mn persons during the month, compared with 7.21mn persons in September 2025. This can be attributed to housework/ family responsibilities, with a share of 43.6%. The schooling/ training category ranked second at 40.7%.
Commenting on the overall performance for October 2025, Dato’ Sri Dr Uzir said" “The country’s labour market showed further improvement in October 2025, driven by robust economic activity, with solid growth in employment and unemployment remaining low."
As he concluded his statement, the Chief Statistician stated that the outlook for Malaysia's labour market in the coming months is expected to remain positive and resilient, supported by moderate economic growth, strategic investments, and human capital development.
"Although global challenges such as trade volatility and slowing external demand may pose pressures, Malaysia's labour market is anticipated to stay competitive, inclusive, and stable."
Lead image / DOSM
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