Malaysia's employment continued its positive trajectory in the third quarter of 2024 (Q324), with total employment reaching 16.72 million persons. The growth was driven by sustained labour demand, as reported in the Labour Market Review, Third Quarter 2024 (LMR Q3 2024) released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

The labour force participation rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 70.5%, while the labour force grew by 2.6% to 17.26 million persons. Employment figures saw a 2.9% increase, contributing to the positive momentum, and the unemployment rate decreased to 3.2%, down from 3.3% in the previous three quarters.

Chief Statistician of Malaysia, Dato' Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, highlighted that Malaysia's labour demand reached its highest level since 2018, with 9.01 million jobs in the private sector, marking a 1.2% annual increase. However, the number of new jobs created declined by 0.6% year-on-year, totalling 31.8 thousand jobs in Q3 2024.

Labour productivity also saw improvement, with value added per employment rising by 2.4% to RM25,077 per person. Total hours worked increased by 2.7%, totalling 9.67 billion hours, while productivity per hour worked grew by 2.6%.

Looking ahead, the robust investment activities, resilient domestic demand, and recovery in exports are expected to continue supporting Malaysia's economic growth, with labour market stability expected to persist in the coming quarters.