The whole country has about 1.4 million unemployed young people.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs assesses that the labor market is gradually returning to its normal development trend as before the COVID-19 pandemic, although there are still shortcomings that need to be addressed, such as the high unemployment rate among young people.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has just released information on the labor and employment situation in the first quarter of 2024. Notably, the underemployment rate increased compared to the previous quarter and the same period last year; however, the unemployment rate decreased, following the usual pattern seen in the quarter including the Lunar New Year.

Young people seek employment at mobile job fairs organized in districts and counties of Hanoi .

Nevertheless, youth unemployment rates remain high. Nationwide, approximately 1.4 million young people (aged 15-24) are unemployed and not participating in education or training (accounting for 11% of the total youth population). This rate is also higher in rural areas than in urban areas (12.8% compared to 8.3%).

In the first quarter, the national labor force aged 15 and over was estimated at 52.4 million people (a decrease of 137,400 people compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 175,800 people compared to the same period last year).

The labor force participation rate was 68.5% (down 0.4 percentage points from the previous quarter and year-on-year); the estimated number of employed people was 51.3 million (down 127,000 from the previous quarter and up 174,100 from the same period last year).

The average income of workers in the first quarter of 2024 was 7.6 million VND/month, an increase of 301,000 VND compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 and an increase of 549,000 VND compared to the same period in 2023.

However, in the first few months of 2024, there were still localized imbalances in labor supply and demand, and uneven development across regions, areas, and economic sectors; the mechanisms for connecting supply and demand and the market's self-balancing remained weak.

The quality of labor supply still has many shortcomings and limitations, failing to meet the labor demand of a modern, flexible, sustainable, and integrated labor market. To date, approximately 37.8 million workers have not received any training from elementary level upwards.

To stabilize the labor market, a representative from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs stated that the Ministry has continued to direct the implementation of comprehensive solutions to develop the labor market, aiming to maintain a stable workforce and contribute to the economic development, production, and business activities of enterprises.

The Ministry also directed localities to closely monitor and understand the production, business, labor, and employment situation, especially of enterprises in industrial zones, in order to promptly provide support to businesses to overcome labor shortages.

In the coming period, the Ministry will continue to strengthen the connection between labor supply and demand in the market, especially connecting the labor markets of provinces and cities in key economic regions. Emphasis will be placed on creating jobs for young people, middle-aged workers, vulnerable workers, and female workers.

In addition, it is necessary to regularly monitor developments in the labor market to promptly direct and guide the system of Employment Service Centers to strengthen the organization of job fairs and labor market information to provide timely support to workers and businesses...

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