Vietnam Q3 unemployment matches previous quarter at 2.3%

Vietnam’s Q3 unemployment rate remained unchanged from G2 at 2.3%, numbering 1.08 million people, according to the General Statistics Office.

The figure was 0.02 percentage points higher year-on-year, the GSO said.

The unemployment rate was 2.78% in urban areas and 2.01% in rural areas. The highest rates were found in the Mekong Delta at 2.87% and the southeastern region at 3.08%.

The number of people losing jobs in Q3 was half that of Q2 at 118,400. The highest job loss numbers were in the southern province of Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City at 33,600 and 34,600, respectively, due to a downturn in the apparel-textile and footwear sectors.

Localities with the highest number of workers losing their jobs or having their working hours cut were the central province of Thanh Hoa with 98,300; the northern province of Ninh Binh with 19,800; the southern province of Binh Phuoc with 17,000; and the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang with 11,900.

Overall, the January-September unemployment rate was 2.28%, down 0.07 percentage points year-on-year. The rates were 2.73% in urban areas and 2% in rural areas.

The country’s workforce increased by 546,000, or 1.47% year-on-year, to 52.32 million. The rate of skilled workers was 26.8%, up 0.6 percentage points.

The number of underemployed people was 922,400, down 10% year-on-year.

The average monthly income of a worker was VND7 million ($288) in January-September, up VND451,000 ($18.6) or 6.8% year-on-year. It was VND8.6 million ($353.8) in urban areas and VND6.1 million ($251) in rural areas.

By gender, the average monthly income was VND8 million ($329.2) for males and VND5.9 million ($242.8) for females.