Malaysia’s unemployment rate in September 2022 stood at 3.6%, down 0.9% year-on-year, and down 0.1% over the month, according to research from Statistics Malaysia.

The number of unemployed persons declined by 17.1% over the year.

During the month, the number of unemployed persons continued its downward trend for fourteen consecutive months, recording a monthly decline of 1.1% to 605,000 persons (August 2022: 612,000).

Based on seasonally adjusted data, the number of unemployed persons increased over the month by 0.5%, registering the unemployment rate of 3.7%.

Meanwhile, the number of employed persons totalled 16.05 million, up 3.8% over the year and 0.2% over the month.

By economic sector, the services sector continued to register an increasing number of employed persons, largely in Food & beverages services; Wholesale & retail trade and Transport and storage activities, as well as in the Manufacturing and Construction sectors. Meanwhile, the number of employed persons in the Agriculture and Mining & Quarrying sectors remained on a downward trend.

The labour force remained stable in September 2022, with a 0.2% increase month-on-month or 27,500 persons to record 16.66 million persons (August 2022: 16.63 million) and up 1.1% over the year. The labour force participation rate (LFPR) was unchanged over the month at 69.7%. Over the year the labour force participation rate rose by 1.1%. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the labour force decreased marginally over the month by 0.04%, whereas the LFPR stood at 69.7%.