Q3 labour market sees sharpest nosedive in all fields

The rate and number of unemployed labourers in the third quarter surged (Illustrative image. Source: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Due to the fourth COVID-19 wave since April, the Vietnamese labour market has entered a severe crisis with numerous negative records in the third quarter of 2021, making it more difficult than ever for employees’ chances to find jobs.

Over 28.2 million labourers suffer negative impacts

Speaking at a General Statistics Office (GSO) press conference on October 12 on the labour and employment situation in the third quarter of 2021, head of the GSO Department of Population and Labour Statistics said that in the third quarter of 2021, more than 28.2 million people aged 15 and over were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in various forms of job loss, furloughs, alternate working shifts, and reduced working hours or income.

Compared to the previous quarter, the labour force in rural areas decreased by 1.4 million people, accounting for 4.4 percent of the total in rural areas. That in urban areas decreased by 583,000 people, accounting for 3.1 percent of the total in urban areas.

The number of employed workers in the third quarter was 47.2 million, down to the lowest in many years. This was down by nearly 2.6 million people compared to the previous quarter and by 2.7 million people to the same period last year.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected employment status in most regions in the third quarter of 2021, especially in the eastern part of the south and the Mekong Delta, with the rate of unemployment increasing to 59.1 percent and 44.7 percent, respectively. The figure in the northern midland and mountainous regions and the Central Highlands was much lower, at 17.4 percent and 19.7 percent, respectively.

According to Nam, the average monthly labour income also dropped sharply compared to the previous quarter and the same period last year to the lowest in many years.

Labourers in the eastern part of the south suffered the sharpest nosedive to 5.7 million VND per month, down by 2.4 million VND per month, or 29.8 percent compared to the previous quarter, and 24.9 percent year on year. Meanwhile, income of labourers in Ho Chi Minh City was reduced to 5.7 million VND, the lowest in many years.

Surge in unemployment rate

The fourth wave of COVID-19 has negatively impacted the Vietnamese labour market. The number of employed labourers in the third quarter continued to slump by 2.6 million compared to the previous quarter and 2.7 million over the same period last year to only 47.2 million.

The statutory working-age underemployment rate in the third quarter of 2021 was 4.46 percent, up 1.86 percentage points from the previous quarter and 1.74 percentage points over the same period last year. That in urban areas was higher than in rural areas, at 5.33 percent and 3.94 percent, respectively.

The rate rose to 8.5 percent in HCM City, more than 3.6 times that of Hanoi, at 2.39 percent. Countrywide, the number of underemployed workers was over 1.8 million, up 700,300 over the previous month and 620,000 over the same period in 2020.

According to Nam, along with the rise of underemployment, the abnormal developments of COVID-19 pandemic have pushed the rate of unemployment up to a much higher level than the normal 2 percent.

On the national scale, the number of unemployed labourers of the working age in the third quarter was over 1.7 million, with the unemployment rate at 3.98 percent, a rise of 1.36 percent over the previous quarter and 1.36 percent over the same period in 2020.

As the unemployment rate among labourers of the working age has reached a record in the recent 10 years, the chances for labourers to seek jobs are less than ever, Nam added./.