- Labor force continued to rise, but growth weakened. According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), Vietnam’s total labor force grew by 107,100 people QoQ (+0.2% QoQ) — vs +0.9% QoQ in Q2 2022 — and 698,200 YoY to 52.3 million in Q2 2023, resulting in a labor force participation rate of 68.9% — unchanged QoQ but edging up 0.4 ppts YoY.

- Employment shifted from the agriculture, forestry & fishery sector and the industrial & construction sector to the services sector. In Q2 2023, the total number of workers in Vietnam was 51.2 million (+83,000 QoQ & +691,400 YoY). Employment in the agriculture, forestry & fishery sector and the industrial & construction sector declined by 23,800 and 242,000 to 13.8 million and 17.1 million, respectively. In contrast, the services sector added 349,000 jobs to reach a total of 20.3 million.

- There was uncertainty in the labor market as informal labor increased. In Q2 2023, the number of people working in informal jobs increased by more than 300,000 QoQ to 33.3 million. Meanwhile, the number of people working in the formal sector declined by around 220,000 QoQ to 17.9 million. Despite the increase in total employment, the jump in informal labor — in addition to the decline in formal employment — signals uncertainty in the labor market.

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