By WU VUIDE
KOTA KINABALU: Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe said the positive development in the state’s economy had contributed to the drop in Sabah’s unemployment rate for the second quarter of 2025.
He was commenting on the Second Quarter 2025 Labour Force Survey Report released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia, which showed that Sabah’s unemployment rate for the second quarter of 2025 fell to 6.2 per cent, returning to the 6.1 per cent level recorded in the second quarter of 2019.
He said the unemployment rate for this quarter had fallen from 6.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2025.
In terms of numbers, the unemployed decreased from 144,500 in the first quarter of 2024 to 120,300 in the second quarter of 2025, a drop of more than 20,000 within one and a half years.
The number of unemployed in the second quarter of 2025 was also lower than the same period in 2019, when it stood at 122,200 before the pandemic.
Although this was a positive development, Phoong stressed that more efforts were needed to bring down the unemployment rate, which has remained high for the past decade, to match the national average.
He noted that Sabah’s unemployment rate had reached 9.1 per cent during the pandemic before dropping to around 7 per cent in 2023 and 2024, and has now been reduced further to the 6 per cent level.
“This proves that job opportunities are increasing, particularly as a result of the rapid growth of the industrial sector over the past few years.
“Large investments by local factories and foreign investors that have successfully commenced operations in Sabah have directly contributed to job creation for the state’s youth,” he said.
The number of employed persons also recorded a significant increase, from 1.674 million in the first quarter of 2024 to 1.813 million in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of nearly 150,000 within one and a half years.
Phoong said Sabah recorded the second-highest increase in employed persons in Malaysia during that period, after Selangor.
However, he acknowledged that Sabah still had the highest unemployment rate in the country, and that it would take more time and effort to change the situation.
He expressed confidence that through continued efforts to attract investments, assist local enterprises to grow, and drive downstream industrial development, Sabah could create more job opportunities and bring the number of unemployed below 100,000 within the next few years.
As the Sabah DAP Chairman, he reaffirmed his commitment to focus on the industrial development agenda to realise an economic boost for the state.
“I will not be satisfied or stop here. I will keep working, step by step, until the people can see that change is happening,” he said.
industrial sector over the past few years’ – Phoong
