Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose to 5.0 percent in the third quarter of 2023 from 4.2 percent in the previous quarter, the latest Labour Force Survey said on Monday.
The report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the labour force participation rate among the working-age population declined to 79.5 percent in Q3 compared to 80.4 percent in Q2.
Africa’s biggest economy, with more than 200 million people, had an all-time high unemployment rate of 33.3 percent in Q4 2020 but it fell to 4.1 percent in Q1 2023 – from 5.3 percent in Q4 2022, following the new methodology adopted by NBS.
“The employment-to-population ratio was 75.6 percent in Q3 with a decrease of 1.5 percent compared to a ratio of Q2. The combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment as a share of the labour force population (LU2) increased to 17.3 percent in Q3 from 15.5 percent in Q2,” the report said.
It said about 87.3 percent of workers were self-employed in Q3 and that the proportion of workers in Wage Employment in Q3 was 12.7 percent.
“The rate of unemployment among persons with post-secondary education was 7.8 percent in Q3. The unemployment rate among youth aged (15-24 years) was 8.6 percent in Q3. Increase of 1.4 percent compared to Q2.”
According to the statistical agency, the unemployment rate in urban areas was 6.0 percent in Q3, a slight increase of 0.1 percent from Q2.
“Time-related underemployment in Q3 was 12.3 percent, showing a slight increase of 0.5 percent from the rate recorded in Q2. This shows an increase of 1.4 percent compared to the rate in Q4. 4.1 percent of the working-age population was in subsistence agriculture in Q3.”
“Informal employment rate in Q3 was 92.3 percent, while Q2 2023 was 92.7 percent. Percentage of youth Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET Rate) was 13.7 percent in Q3,” it added.
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