42% of Nigerian jobs lost to COVID-19 – NBS

About 42 percent of Nigerian workers lost their jobs as a result if the impact of the Coronavirus.

A report released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that 79 percent of respondents reported that their households’ total income had decreased since mid-March.

“The impact on employment and income has also been widespread. The impact of COVID-19 has been most strongly felt in the commerce, service, and agriculture sectors,” the NBS said.

It reported that experience of economic shocks in the few months after the outbreak of coronavirus far exceeds shocks experienced between 2017 and 2019.

The report revealed that the most widely reported shocks experienced by households was an increase in prices of major food items faced by 85% of households since the outbreak compared to only 19% between January 2017 and January 2019.

The report disclosed that many households struggled to cope with these widespread shocks with 51% of all households resorting to reducing food consumption.

“Some households struggled to purchase staple foods like yam, rice and beans during the seven days prior to the interview with 35-59% of households who need to purchase these staple foods reporting that they were not able to buy them,” the report said.

NBS found that 26% of households reported not being able to access medical treatment when they needed it during the same period.