VietNamNet Bridge - According to statistics, the number of unemployed people who have college and master’s degrees in Vietnam this year increased by about 16,000 over the same period in 2014.

On July 20 the Institute of Labor and Social Science released its updated bulletin on the labor market in the first quarter 2015. The bulletin recorded the increase unemployment and underemployment rates in the country.

Accordingly, in the first three months, Vietnam had more than 1.1 million unemployed people, an increase of 114,000 people over the same period of 2014. The number of jobless people who hold college and higher degrees rose from over 162,000 to nearly 178,000 people. The number of unemployed untrained workers also increased from nearly 630,000 to 726,000. The correlative figures for the people with junior college degrees are 79,000 and 100,000.

The highest unemployment rate is for the group of people holding junior college certificates, with 7.2 percent while it is only 1.97% for the group of untrained workers. The general unemployment rate is 2.43%, up 0.22% compared with the same period of 2014.

The percentage of underemployed people also increased slightly. The number of people working less than 35 hours per week and wanting to work overtime was 1.13 million people, up from late 2014. The number of underemployed laborers in the rural areas is almost double that in the urban areas.

The labor market picture had some bright spots the number of employees in the state-owned sector decreased and the average income of salaried workers increased by 12.3%, from VND4.4 million in late 2014 to VND4.9 million in early 2015.

It is forecasted that later this year the demand for labor in the processing, manufacturing industries will grow. After Vietnam joins the ASEAN Economic Community this year, employment opportunities will come more with Vietnamese labor.

In the immediate future, there are eight industries in which workers in ASEAN countries are allowed to freely move, including accountants, architects, dentists, doctors, engineers, nurses, transport and tourism employees.