Five things we learnt from Nigeria’s 2020 Unemployment report

The recently released unemployment and underemployment report by the National Bureau of Statistics shows how many Nigerians were in and out of jobs in 2020.

Here are some highlights from the report.

Unemployment rate hit 33.3 percent

Unemployment rate in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, increased to 33.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, from 27.1 percent in the second quarter of 2020.

Underemployment declines to 22.8

Underemployment, which is the number of people who do not work full time or take a job that does not reflect their actual training and financial needs declined to 22.8 percent in Q4 2020 from 28.6 percent in Q2 2020.

Imo and Adamawa state records highest number of unemployed people

Regarding unemployment by state, Imo State recorded the highest rate of unemployment with 56.6 percent. This was followed by Adamawa with 54.89 percent and Cross Rivers State with 53.65 percent. The States with the lowest rates were Osun, Benue and Zamfara States with 11.65 percent, 11.98 percent and 12.99 percent respectively.

There are more unemployed males than females

The report also shows that there are more unemployed males than females in Q4 2020. About 12.5 million males were unemployed in 2020 compared to 10.6 unemployed females.

Youth unemployment hit 42.5 percent

Under the age-groupings, the highest rate of unemployment was recorded among the 15-24-year age-group with 53.4 percent, followed by those aged between 25-34 with 37 percent, together the youth population recorded an unemployment rate of 42.5 percent.