The overall unemployment rate rose slightly to about 2.22 percent in the first quarter of the year.

The rate is 3.17 percent in urban areas and 1.75 percent in the countryside.

As many as 265,000 workers became employed during the same period, an increase of 3.6 percent over 2014, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

By the end of March, 52.5 million people over 15 were employed – 8.8 million more people than the first quarter last year, the report said. Men comprised 51.5 percent of the workforce and women comprised 48.5 percent.

Of these, 40.7 percent worked in agriculture, forestry and seafood; 25.5 percent worked in construction and industry; and 33.8 percent worked in the service sector.

College and university graduates were seeing less work comparatively, with an unemployment rate of 4.39 – 2.17 percent higher than the overall rate.

"The fact that many university or college graduates can't get a job reflects a change in companies' recruitment structure," said Cao Van Sam, deputy head of the General Department of Vocational Training under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).

Enterprises often recruit applicants based on their experience, not their level of education, he said.

He attributed the graduates' unemployment to the fact that they lack professional skills and soft skills. They focused too much on theory in school and did not get enough practical experience, he said.

The Government said it expects Vietnam's economy to remain stable in the second quarter and for its GDP to rise. Employer demand will also increase in leading sectors.

Firms will seek 65,000 labourers in the second quarter of the year in Ho Chi Minh City, said Tran Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the city's Centre for Human Resource Forecasting and Labour Market Information.-VNA