Labour market improves in Q3, but challenges persist
Vietnam’s labour market navigated persistent hurdles in the third quarter despite broader economic gains, said Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, acting head of the Department of Population and Labour Statistics at the Ministry of Finance’s National Statistics Office.
The unemployment rate among working-age individuals stood at 2.22% in Q3, down 0.02 percentage point from the previous quarter and 0.01 percentage point year-on-year. Underemployment fell to 1.50%, declining 0.23 point quarterly and 0.37 point annually.
The labour force aged 15 and over grew to 53.3 million in Q3, up 254,500 from Q2 and 583,600 from a year earlier. For January through September 2025, the labour force averaged 53.1 million, a rise of 556,300 year-on-year.
The share of workers with degrees or certificates continued its upward trend, reaching 29.5% in Q3 and averaging 29.1% over the first nine months, up 1% year-on-year.
Employment expanded both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year, with a sectoral shift favouring industry, construction, and services over agro-forestry-fisheries.
Vietnam counted 52.3 million employed workers in Q3, up 261,300, or 0.5%, from Q2 and 580,800, or 1.12%, from a year ago. Over the first nine months, employment averaged 52 million, a year-on-year gain of 552,300.
By sector, industry and construction led with 17.5 million workers, followed by services at 21.4 million, and agro-forestry-fisheries at 13.4 million. For January-September, services averaged 21.2 million jobs, industry and construction 17.4 million, and agriculture 13.4 million.
Average monthly income hit VND8.4 million (US$323) in Q3, rising VND24,400 from Q2 and VND747,800 year on year. For the first nine months, income averaged VND8.3 million, up 10% from the same period in 2024.
Mai noted that Vietnam is in a “golden population structure” period, with a large and growing working-age population and a labour force participation rate of around 69%, adding roughly 500,000 workers each year.
To revitalise the labour market, she called for upskilling workforce, curbing informal employment, lifting productivity, bolstering social welfare, and tapping underutilised labour potential.
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