Vietnam’s unemployment worsens amid COVID-19 pandemic

In the first seven months of 2021, the number of Vietnamese businesses withdrawing from the labour market was higher than the number of those that were newly established, said the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Department of Employment.

Over 79,700 businesses withdrew from the market, while 75,800 firms were newly registered over the period.

On average, over 11,300 companies withdraw from the labour market each month, across industries such as wholesale, retail, automobile and motorbike repair, manufacturing and processing, construction, accommodation, real estate business and education.

In Q2’ 2021, the number of unemployed people hit 1.2 million, comprising 2.62% of people of working age. In July alone, the unemployment rate in urban areas rose to over 4%.

The jobless rate differs from region to region. In the central region, the areas of Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen and Danang saw 3.4% of businesses temporarily suspending work, with more than 500,000 unemployed workers, and comprising 15% of total employees in the region, according to The Phnom Penh Post. 

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In 19 southern provinces and cities that are applying social distancing rules, almost 20% of businesses have stopped working and nearly three million people are unemployed, accounting for 33.4% of total employees.