VietNamNet Bridge – The General Statistics Office said, according to international standards, workers who are unemployed for seven days but work for only one hour are considered to have a job so Vietnam’s unemployment rate is low.

According to the report on the socio-economic situation published by the General Statistics Office on June 27, the unemployment rate of people in the working age in the first 6 months of 2013 is approximately 2.28 percent (3.85 percent in urban areas and 1.57 percent in the countryside).

The rate of laborers at the working age who are not fully employed is estimated at 2.95 percent, with 1.76 percent in urban areas and 3.47 percent in rural areas.

For the workers at the age of 15-24, the unemployment rate in the first half of 2013 is 6.07 percent, with 11.45 percent in the urban areas and 4.41 percent in the rural areas.

Compared with the increasing number of workers, the above ratios seem to be low and unrealistic because by July 1, 2013, the labor force from 15 years old and more is estimated at 53.3 million people, 715,000 people over the same period in 2012 and 308,000 over April 1, 2013. The rapid increase of the labor force in the context of economic difficulties, limited employment make the unemployment rate of only 2.28 and 2.95 percent as reported by the General Statistics Office be questioned.

In this regard, the Director of the Labor - Population Statistics Department - Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan Mai - said, in fact, the unemployment rate for workers at the age of 15 to 24, especially in the urban areas, is very high. The rate is 11.45 percent in the first half of the year. The figures of 2.28 and 2.29 percent are the general statistics.

Mai said the unemployment rate in Vietnam is low because Vietnam abides the international conventions on the concept of unemployment. Even people who do not have jobs in seven days but work for just one hour or graduates who do unstable jobs are not considered unemployed.

"I confirm that the unemployment rate in Vietnam is lower than the world," said the Director of the General Statistics Office – Do Thuc.

Thuc said that if the neighboring countries measure the unemployment rate based on the international criteria, their unemployment rates are also low, at about 2-3 percent.

The data on the unemployment rate in Vietnam was the concern of many deputies at the last National Assembly session in early June.

Tran Cham