Young people account for half of nationwide unemployment

Youth unemployment is particularly prevalent in cities, where one in ten young people are jobless. However, youth unemployment in cities fell slightly compared to the same period last year, while rural youth unemployment saw a big fall of nearly 1.5 percent.

Total unemployment registered for Q1/2016 was 2.05 percent, a two percentage point drop compared to Q1/2015. Urban unemployment was 2.78 percent, while rural unemployment was 1.71 percent.

Among the 53.3 million people with jobs, urban workers account for 31.4 percent while women make up 48.4 percent.

Agriculture continues to be the main source of employment with 22.5 million workers (42.3 percent), followed by services at 17.8 million (33.3 percent) and industry at 13 million (24.4 percent).

Compared to Q1/2015, the number of agricultural workers fell 2.7 percent, while industry picked up  a 2.9 percent increase.

However, Vietnamese workers remain to be largely unskilled. Only 19.2 percent of the workforce has had some vocational training or higher. Most unskilled labor is concentrated in rural areas. There are three times more trained workers in cities than in the countryside.

Post-graduates with full time jobs earn the most, almost VND9.5 million per month. They are followed by workers with informal vocational training, who earn more than those educated at professional vocational colleges. Those who haven’t completed primary school or lower earn the least, only a third of the post-graduate group income. This is also the only group that experienced a decline in income in Q1/2016 compared to last year.