The number of people negatively affected by COVID-19 plummeted to 8.0 million in Q2 2022 from 16.9 million in Q1 2022, according to a survey by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO). Of the total, 5.3% had lost their jobs, 27.6% had to temporarily suspend their production/business, 29.5% had their working hours reduced and 81.7% had their income reduced. 

Employment rebounded to pre-COVID level; unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since the start of the pandemic. Vietnam’s total labor force increased by 444,000 QoQ and 558,600 YoY to 51.6 million in Q2 2022, lifting the labor force participation rate to a one-year high of 68.1%. Also, after adding 1.0 million jobs in Q1 2022, nearly half a million jobs were added to the economy in Q2 2022. Notably, employment in Q2 2022 returned to the pre-COVID level at over 50.5 million (vs 50.3 million in Q2 2019). The unemployment rate in Q2 2022 also dropped to 2.1% — the lowest level since the start of the pandemic.. 

The services sector led job creation thanks to the reopening of the tourism sector. In Q2 2022, the services sector created 429,800 jobs — accounting for 85% of the total jobs added in the quarter — bringing the total employment of this sector to 19.8 million (+353,800 YoY). In addition, the industrial & construction sector added 62,100 jobs QoQ, bringing its total employment to 16.8 million (+210,000 YoY).  Meanwhile, employment in in the agriculture, forestry & fishery sector declined 12,600 QoQ to 13.9 million (+138,000 YoY) as people who had returned to their hometowns during Vietnam’s fourth wave of COVID-19 in Q3 2021 returned to their workplaces.

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