Vietnam incomes rise 10%, but 1.6mn young people remain out of work or school

Average monthly income in Q3 was VND8.4 million (US$319), up VND748,000 ($28.4) from a year earlier.

Male workers earned VND9.4 million ($357) on average; female workers made VND7.2 million ($273).

Urban workers averaged VND10.1 million ($383), rural workers VND7.2 million ($273).

In the January–September period, average income stood at VND8.3 million ($315), up 10 percent year on year.

Vietnam’s labor force in Q3 reached 53.3 million, up 254,500 from Q2.

The employed population totaled 52.3 million, an increase of 261,300.

The labor force participation rate stood at 68.4 percent, down 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier.

Workers with formal training made up 29.1 percent, up one percentage point.

Informal employment accounted for 62.4 percent of total employment in Q3, or 32.6 million people.

This share was down 1.1 percentage points from the previous quarter.

Unemployment among working-age individuals remained at 2.22 percent.

Youth unemployment was 9.03 percent, including 12.42 percent in urban areas and 6.86 percent in rural areas.

About 1.6 million people aged 15 to 24 were neither working, studying nor in training, accounting for 11.5 percent of that age group.

The rate was higher in rural areas at 13 percent, compared with 9.5 percent in urban areas.

Among women it was 13.3 percent, compared with 9.8 percent for men.