The Vietnam Labor Market Bulletin for the 4th quarter of 2025, published by the Ministry of Home Affairs, shows that the labor picture continues to improve, with the number of workers with jobs or salaries increasing.
The whole country has 53.8 million workers, of which 52.7 million people have jobs, an increase of about 656,000 people compared to the same period last year.
In which, the main labor force is in the service sector (40.8%), followed by industry - construction (33.8%) and agriculture - forestry - fishery (25.4%). The rate of workers with degrees and certificates has reached 29.5%.
However, the last quarter of 2025 still recorded over 784,000 unemployed people, accounting for 1.67% of the labor force, an increase of more than 19,000 people compared to the same period last year.
Also according to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the whole country has about 1.07 million unemployed people, corresponding to a unemployment rate of 2.22%. In urban areas alone, this rate is at 2.46%, higher than the general level.
Notably, the unemployment rate of young people (15-24 years old) is up to 9.04%, more than 4 times higher than the general rate.
In particular, there are about 1.4 million "3 no" youth - unemployed, not participating in schooling, not participating in training, accounting for 10.2% of the total number of youth. This number increased to over 124,000 people compared to the same period last year.
Quarter 4 of 2025 recorded more than 166,000 people submitting applications for unemployment benefits, down 8,200 people compared to the same period last year.
Accordingly, the number of people who decided to receive unemployment benefits reached more than 178,000 people, about 576,000 people were consulted. However, only about 41,000 people were introduced to jobs and more than 6,800 people were supported with vocational training.
Through analysis, labor experts clearly stated that 61.2% of people submitting applications for unemployment benefits do not have degrees or certificates, while the group with university degrees or higher is only 19.2%.
This clearly reflects the unemployment risk mainly concentrated in low-skilled workers, and also shows the large room for vocational training policies associated with unemployment insurance.
However, there is still a bright spot that is the average income of employees reaching 8.7 million VND/month, an increase of 323,000 VND (about 3.9%) compared to the previous quarter.
The Ministry of Home Affairs forecasts that in the first quarter of 2026, the number of employed people may increase by about 300,000 people compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, bringing the total number of employed workers to 53 million people.
Some industries are forecast to increase demand such as production, food processing (up 3.1%), and transportation production (up 2.6%). Conversely, industries such as tobacco production, chemicals, chemical products, repair - maintenance - installation of machinery and equipment tend to reduce employment.
According to Mr. Ngo Xuan Lieu - National Director of the Employment Service Center (under the Department of Employment, Ministry of Home Affairs) - said that young people can find jobs through national job exchanges, satellite job exchanges, job fairs...
Thereby, workers will limit the risk of being illegally brokered for jobs, lack of transparency and cost savings. In the long term, workers can verify information through the VNeID application and have the right to search and interview directly on the national job exchange.
In the coming time, the National Center for Employment Services will continue to monitor and grasp the labor situation in localities while promptly providing information and forecasting the labor market, creating favorable conditions for workers to find and stabilize jobs" - Mr. Ngo Xuan Lieu said.
