Malaysia’s labour market remains stable with unemployment at 2.9% in January 2026, as employment and labour force participation both see marginal gains.

PUTRAJAYA: The country’s labour market sustained its expansion in January 2026, maintaining a stable unemployment rate of 2.9%.

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the performance was in line with favourable economic growth, featuring steady employment and persistently low unemployment.

The labour force rose by 0.1% month-on-month to 17.28 million persons.

Accordingly, the labour force participation rate edged up by 0.1 percentage point to 70.9%.

The number of employed persons increased marginally by 0.04% to 16.77 million.

At the same time, the number of unemployed persons recorded a slight uptick of 0.3% to 509.6 thousand.

“January’s unemployment rate remained at 2.9 per cent, as in the prior month,” Mohd Uzir said.

He anticipates the labour market will remain favourable in the coming months with the unemployment rate staying low.

Labour force participation is also foreseen to remain stable following balanced recovery in key sectors.

“Employment opportunities are also seen to increase in the high-tech and services subsectors, driven by automation, AI, digital and foreign investment.”

He added that strong domestic economic fundamentals are expected to continue supporting market growth despite global uncertainty.

 The Sun Malaysia