The labor market has gradually recovered and achieved a good growth rate, Deputy General Director of the General Statistics Office Nguyen Trung Tien announced on April 12.
He was speaking at the press conference to review the labor and employment situation in the first quarter of 2022, jointly held by the General Statistics Office (GSO) and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
According to the GSO the number of people employed and the average monthly income of employees increased against both the previous quarter (the fourth quarter of 2021) and the same period last year.
The country's labor force aged above 15 in the first quarter of 2022 was 51.2 million people, an increase of more than 441,000 people compared to the previous quarter and 160,000 people compared to the same period in 2021.
The labor force rate in the first quarter of 2022 was 68.1 percent.
The labor force in both rural and urban areas increased by about 200,000 people, compared to the previous quarter.
Since the beginning of the year, the country still has more than 16.9 million people aged 15 and over being impacted negatively by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This number has decreased sharply compared to the previous quarter (a drop of 7.8 million people), a record since Vietnam witnessed the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pham Hoai Nam, Director of the Department of Population and Labor Statistics under the GSO, said the unemployment rate among working-age people decreased compared to the previous quarter, although it is still higher than in the same period last year.
The average monthly income of employees in the first quarter was VND 6.4 million (USD 279.6), up VND 1 million from the previous quarter.
The highlight was the sharp increase in the average monthly income of workers in the South-east region and the Mekong River Delta, especially in HCM City, to about VND 8.3 million (USD 362.6), an increase of VND 2.2 million compared to the previous quarter.
However, according to the GSO, despite the labor market in Vietnam prospering in many ways, some unsustainable factors remain.
The number of people employed has increased rapidly, but much of that is in the informal sector which faces more uncertainties.
GSO officials also proposed to implement solutions to improve the business investment environment, support businesses and employees, and accelerate the implementation of the economic recovery and development program.- (VLLF)
