It was up from 2.18% recorded in the fourth quarter last year and the first quarterly increase in a year. Vietnam's gross domestic product grew 5.5% in the first three months. The economy expanded by a five-year high of 6.68% last year.
Of more than 1.07 million unemployed people, about 28.8% were university and college graduates, up from 25.7% in the previous quarter.
The labor ministry also reported that 1.76% of the workforce were working less than 35 hours a week and wished to have more work. That compared to 1.61% in the last quarter of 2015.
State-owned businesses paid the highest salary with employees receiving an average of VND7.61 million (US$336) a month, up 22.1% from the previous quarter, according to the report.
They were followed by foreign businesses who offered VND6.12 million (US$270) a month on average, an increase of 17%. Local private companies VND5.75 million.
Vietnam earlier this year raised the minimum wage for local employees by 13%.
