The unemployment rate in Malaysia stood at 3.5% in May 2023, down by 0.4% from a year earlier, according to the latest statistics from the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

When compared to April 2023, the unemployment rate saw no change.

In May 2023, the number of unemployed persons continued to decline, with a monthly reduction of 0.4% to 584,600 thousand persons. The annual decline stood at 8.3%.

The number of employed persons in May 2023 increased steadily, with a rise of 0.2% (+28.1 thousand persons) to a record 16.28 million persons. The year-on-year increase was 2.4%.

Looking at the employed persons by economic sector, the services sector continued to register a positive trend, particularly in food & beverage services; wholesale & retail trade; and information & communication activities. Similar trends in employment were also observed in the manufacturing, construction, mining & quarrying and agriculture sectors.

In May 2023, the number of labour force continued to record an upward trend, with an increase of 0.2% over the month and up 2.0% over the year. May’s labour force participation rate held steady over the month at 70.0% and increased 0.5% over the year.