The National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) says the unemployment rate in Nigeria increased to 5.0 percent in third quarter (Q3) of 2023 from the 4.2 percent recorded in second quarter (Q2) of the year.
The NBS said this in its Nigeria Labour Force Survey for Q3 2023, released in Abuja on Monday.
It said the unemployment rate was defined as the share of the labour force who were not employed but who were actively searching and were available for work.
In terms of educational attainment, the report said the rate of unemployment among persons with post-secondary education was 7.8 per cent in Q3 2023.
“Those with upper secondary education was 6.3 per cent, while those with lower secondary education was 5.5 per cent, 4.8 per cent for those with primary education and 2.7 per cent for those with no formal education.”
It said the unemployment rate among youth aged (15-24 years) in Q3 2023 was 8.6 per cent compared to the 7.2 per cent recorded in Q2 2023.
The report said the unemployment rate among men was 4.0 per cent and 6.0 per cent among women in Q3 2023.
“The unemployment rate was 6.0 per cent in urban areas and 4.0 per cent in rural areas in Q3 2023.”
The NBS said time-related underemployment in Q3 2023 was 12.3 per cent , indicating an increase of 0.5 per cent from the 11.8 per cent recorded in Q2 2023.
It said time-related underemployment rate was the share of employed people who were working less than 40 hours per week, but who would be willing and available to work more.
“The share of employed men that were underemployed was 8.7 per cent while the share of employed women that were underemployed was 16.0 per cent in Q3 2023.
“The underemployment rate was 11.3 per cent in urban areas and 13.3 per cent in rural areas.”
The NBS said the share of employed persons aged 15 to 24 years that were underemployed was 18.3 per cent.
The report said the combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment as a share of the labour force population (LU2) increased to 17.3 per cent in Q3 from the 15.5 per cent in Q2 2023.
The NBS said the labour force participation rate among the working-age population in Nigeria dropped to 79.5 per cent in Q3 2023 compared to 80.4 recorded in Q2 2023.
The report said the participation rate among men was 80.9 per cent while for women it was 78.2 per cent.
“The participation rate was 75.6 per cent in urban areas and 85.1 per cent in rural areas in Q3 2023.”
It said the employment-to-population ratio, which was the proportion of the working-age population that was employed was 75.6 per cent in Q3 2023
“This indicates a decline of 1.5 per cent compared to a ratio of 77.1 recorded in Q2 2023.”
The report said 87.3 per cent of employed Nigerians were self-employed with the remaining 12.7 per cent engaged as employees(wage employment) in Q3 2023.
It said 84.2 per cent of employed men were self-employed, while 90.5 per cent of employed women were self-employed.
“While men and women engaged as employees(wage employment) was reported at 15.8 per cent and 9.5 per cent, respectively.
The report said 4.1 per cent of the working-age population were in subsistence agriculture, compared to the 8.0 per cent recorded in Q2 2023.
The NBS said the informal employment rate in Q3 2023 was 92.3 per cent, compared with the 92.7 per cent recorded in Q2 2023.
It said in Q3 2023, the percentage of youth (15-24 years) identified as Young Persons Not in Employment, Education nor Training (NEET) was 13.7 per cent.
“This is a drop from the 13.8 per cent recorded in Q2 2023.”
The NBS said that there were more females in NEET at 15.5 per cent compared to males at 12.0 per cent.
