Nigeria: Rising Level of Unemployment

editorial

In a recent report, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the unemployment rate in the country rose from 27.12 million or 13.9 percent in the third quarter to 29 million or 14.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016. In the period under review, the number of the unemployed in the labour force rose by 351,015 persons. According to the report, the percentage increase in the first and second quarters of 2016 were slightly lower at 12.1 percent and 13.4 percent respectively. While 24.5 million Nigerians were unemployed in the first quarter of 2016, 26.06 million persons were jobless in the second quarter of the same year, an increase of 2 million within one quarter.

NBS said underemployed in the labour force in the third quarter of 2016 was 15.9 million persons or 19.7 percent, while the figure of the underemployed in the fourth quarter of 2016 stood at 17.03 million persons or 21.0 percent. The report also said unemployment and underemployment remain highest among persons aged between 15 to 24 years. While unemployment rate was high among those within the ages of 15 to 24, underemployment rate for the same age group increased in the fourth quarter of 2016 to 36.5 percent. NBS further said the respective rates of unemployment and underemployment was higher in women than in men in the fourth quarter of 2016.

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