The unemployment rate in Nigeria rose to 27.1 percent in the second quarter of 2020 from the 23.1 percent recorded in the third quarter of 2018.
The Labour Force Statistics released Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the unemployment rate among young people (15-34years) was 34.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020, up from 29.7 percent.
The report revealed that the rate of underemployment for young people rose to 28.2 percent in the second quarter of 2020 from 25.7 percent in the third quarter of 2018.
NBS explained that the rate of unemployment among young people is the highest when compared to other age groupings.
Daily Trust analysis of the number of persons in the economically active or working age population (15 – 64 years of age) during the second quarter of 2020 was 116.87 million.
The number of persons in the labour force (i.e. people within ages 15 -64, who are able and willing to work) was estimated to be 80.29 million.
This was 11.3 percent less than the number of persons in the third quarter of 2018. Of this number, those within the age bracket of 25-34 were the highest, with 23.33 million or 29.1 percent of the labour force.
Meanwhile, the total number of people in employment (i.e. people with jobs) during the second quarter of 2020 rose to 31.5 percent from 22.8 percent, while the rate among urban dwellers rose to 23.2 percent from 58.53 million.
NBS explained that, of this number, 35.59 million were full-time employed (i.e. worked 40+ hours per week), while 22.94 were under-employed (i.e. working between 20-29 hours per week).
Analysis shows that this figure is 15.8 percent less than the people in employment in the third quarter of 2020.
