Young people aged from 15 to 24 accounted for 47 per cent of the unemployed in the second quarter, the General Statistics Office announced on June 29.

Their unemployment rate was 7.07 per cent, six times higher than the rate for those over 24 years of age. In urban areas the unemployment rate of those between 15 and 24 was 11.7 per cent.

In the second quarter the total workforce was 54.36 million, 654,300 more workers than in the same period last year.

Compared to the first quarter numbers declined 43,200. Workers in rural areas accounted for 68.1 per cent of the total.

Those of working age (from 15 to 55 for women and 15 to 60 for men) totaled 47.55 million, an increase of 227,500 year-on-year.

Male workers stood at 25.73 million, accounting 54.1 per cent, and female workers 21.81 million, or 45.9 per cent.

Rural workers accounted for 66.4 per cent and urban areas 33.4 per cent.

Some 53.24 million workers over 15 years of age were employed. Rural workers accounted for 68.3 per cent and urban workers 68.3 per cent.

Female workers accounted for 48.5 per cent. Compared to same period last year, employed workers increased 709,600, or 1.35 per cent.

The number of employed workers fell 49,000 people, or 0.1 per cent, compared to the first quarter.

Trained workers were estimated at 10.8 million, accounting for 20.3 per cent of the total.

In urban areas, trained workers accounted for 35.7 per cent of the total; almost triple the number in rural areas.

Average monthly salaries in the second quarter were VND4.87 million ($218), a 5.6 per cent decline compared to the first quarter but up 9.4 per cent year-on-year.

Salaries in urban areas were 33.3 per cent higher than in rural areas.

The total number of unemployed people in the second quarter was 1.12 million, 6,000 more than in the first quarter.

Unemployment in urban areas was 3.01 per cent, 1.61 per cent higher than in rural areas.

In the first half there were about 22.5 million workers in agriculture, forestry and fishing, accounting for 42.2 per cent of the total.

Workers in industry and construction totaled 13 million, or 24.4 per cent, while there were 17.8 million workers in the services sector, equal to 33.4 per cent of the total.

Compared to the first half of 2015, the number of workers in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector fell by 2.7 percentage points.

Workers in industry and construction increased 2.6 percentage points and fell 0.05 percentage points in the services sector.

According to Institute of Labor Science and Social Affairs, the unemployment rate among people of working age is estimated at 2.2 per cent thanks to stable economic growth in 2016.

The Director of the Institute, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, said that following improvements last year the outlook for the labor market remains optimistic.