More than 5,000 enterprises in the city filed for bankruptcy in the first quarter of the year, 4.6 times higher than that of the same period last year, according to a report released by the city's People's Committee.

A total of 36,132 laid-off workers in the city claimed unemployment benefits during the period, an increase of 57 per cent against the same period last year, said Nguyen Cao Thang, deputy director of the HCM City Employment Service Centre.

In March, the number of applications soared to 17,000, a rise of 60 per cent against the same period last year.

The upward trend in unemployment insurance claims would likely continue over the next few months, he said.

Most laid-off workers registering for benefits were those working in the labour-intensive and industrial production sector such as textiles and garments, and footwear.

Job cuts and the closing of many enterprises have resulted in a huge leap in unemployment insurance claims.

More than 60 per cent of small – and medium-sized enterprises have slowed down production and cut their workforce due to insufficient capital, according to figures released by the city's Association of Enterprises.

According to Tran Thanh Duc, deputy director of the Employment Service Centre under the HCM City Export, Processing and Industrial Zones Authority, the centre in previous years had received between 40 and 50 recruitment orders, but now only gets a few orders a week.

The recruitment demand of enterprises in export processing zones and industrial parks has dropped steadily this year, he said.

Only eight enterprises recruited workers directly and 30 other enterprises participated online at the third job fair in the city held early this month, said Tran Xuan Hai, director of the HCM City Employment Service Centre.

Recruitment demand fell by half compared with previous fairs, according to Hai.