This information was recorded at the press conference announcing the socio-economic statistics for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2026, held on October 3rd in Hanoi by the General Statistics Office ( Ministry of Finance ).
According to the General Statistics Office, in the third quarter of 2026, the labor force aged 15 and over reached nearly 54.1 million people, an increase of 709,700 people compared to the same period last year. The number of employed people reached nearly 53 million, an increase of 1.4%. For the first nine months of the year, the labor force totaled 53.8 million people, while the number of employed people reached 52.7 million.
Alongside this, workers' incomes continued to improve. In the third quarter, the average monthly income reached 9.2 million VND, an increase of 823,800 VND compared to the same period last year. For the first nine months of the year, the average income reached 9.1 million VND, an increase of 9.1%.
Notably, the quality of human resources has also improved, with the percentage of trained workers holding degrees or certificates reaching 29.9% in the first nine months, an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year.
However, according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, Acting Head of the Population and Labor Statistics Department of the General Statistics Office, when looking closely at each labor group, there are still issues that need attention, especially vulnerable groups.
According to her, although the average income of workers reaches 9.1 million VND/month, the income of informal workers is only about 7.1 million VND/person/month. This group of workers mainly consists of those without labor contracts and not fully guaranteed benefits such as mandatory social insurance, so their income is significantly lower than the general average.
More notably, the income of the underemployed group is only about 4.1 million VND/person/month, much lower than that of the fully employed group.
Thus, from a general perspective, the labor market is showing positive signs: employment is increasing, incomes are improving, and unemployment and underemployment are decreasing. "However, behind that picture, there is still a gap in income and job security between different groups of workers," Ms. Mai noted.
The informal employment rate in the third quarter decreased to 60.6%, 1.9 percentage points lower than the same period last year. The number of underemployed people also decreased to 617,300, or 1.31%.
These figures show that the labor market is continuing to improve, but raising the quality of jobs, incomes, and access to benefits for vulnerable workers remains a crucial issue in the development of the labor market.
Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/thi-truong-lao-dong-on-dinh-nhom-yeu-the-van-dang-luu-y-post794878.html
