The figure was 3.8% lower than that of the same period last year and only met 38.3% of the employment target set for this year. 

Of the total, the number of job seekers who were hired domestically amounted to 573,000, an annual decrease of 4%. However, it still helped cut the unemployment rate to 2.23% in the first quarter. 

Vietnam’s workforce is estimate to reach 54.47 million in the second quarter, accounting for 76% of the country’s above 15 year-old population.