VietNamNet Bridge - More than 162,000 people who are university graduates or post graduates were jobless in the second quarter of 2014, nearly two times higher than the general unemployment rate and higher than that of the fourth quarter of 2013.

At a job fair in Hanoi.

The figures were released by Doan Diep Mau, deputy minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, on Tuesday morning at a press conference on Vietnam’s labor market.

According to Diep, the unemployment rate remained at about 2%, an increase over the previous quarter. The highest rate belonged to untrained workers, followed by university and higher degree holders.

Nguyen Ba Ngoc, deputy director of the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs, also mentioned a pretty impressive figure: about 1/5 of the youth in the age group of 20-24 holding a university or higher degree were unemployed.

Regarding the quality of labor, Dr. Ngoc said it had improved but the number of trained laborers with training certificates was still low, with nearly 10 million people. This percentage was extremely low in the agriculture and forestry sector, with less than 4%. The rate was very limited in the industrial sector, with nearly 20%.

"Notably, the percentage of laborers who work for families rose quickly from 16 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 to 22% in the second quarter of 2014. In total, the vulnerable group was over 70%," said Dr. Ngoc.

Last year there were nearly 7,000 occupational accidents in Vietnam, down from 2012. However, the number of serious accidents and deaths due to the accidents increased. According to experts, this figure is only the tip of the iceberg. The real number may be much higher.

The average income of workers was VND4.8 million (US$240, including salaries, bonuses and allowances). The difference between the highest income group and the lowest was 2.8 times.

Cam Tu