The jobless rate in Viet Nam stood at 2.29 per cent in the first six months of this year, compared to 2.58 per cent in the same period last year, a senior official said.

Nguyen Thi Xuan Mai, head of the Population and Labour Department under the General Statistics Office, said that in the first half of 2012, unemployment in urban areas fell to 3.62 per cent from 3.96 per cent in the same period last year and in rural areas to 1.65 per cent from 2.02 per cent.

Meanwhile, in the first half of the year, 3.06 per cent of labourers were underemployed, Mai said, adding that the figure stood at 1.92 per cent in urban areas and 3.6 per cent in rural areas.

The unemployment rate in Viet Nam is on par with those in other countries in the region and much lower than those in many developing and developed countries such as South Africa (25 per cent), Iran (11.5 per cent), the Netherlands (9.6 per cent), Spain (21.6 per cent), and France (9.3 per cent).

Viet Nam now has 47.1 million people of working age, up 0.6 per cent against the same period last year. Of that total, female workers account for 46.3 per cent.

In an effort to boost social welfare, the Prime Minister has authorised favourable loans for poor students.

Meanwhile, the monthly minimum wage has increased from VND830,000 (US$39) to VND1.05 million ($47).

Source: VNA