UNEMPLOYMENT rate in Nigeria has increased from 23.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2018 to 27.1 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics has said.
The NBS disclosed this in its Labour Force Statistics published on Friday.
The Bureau added that for the second quarter of this year, the unemployment rate among young people (15-34 years) was 34.9 per cent, up from 29.7 per cent.
It noted that the rate of underemployment for the same age group rose to 28.2 per cent, from 25.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2018.
“The unemployment rate during the reference period, Q2, 2020 was 27.1 per cent, up from the 23.1 per cent recorded in Q3, 2018. The underemployment rate increased from 20.1 per cent in Q3, 2018 to 28.6 per cent,” the NBS said.
The Report put the number of persons in the economically active or working age population (15 – 64 years of age) during the second quarter of 2020 at 116,871,186.
It also stated that the number of persons in the labour force, which are people within ages 15-64, who were able and willing to work, was 80,291,894.
It said, “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 80,291,894.
“This was 11.3 per cent less than the number persons in Q3, 2018. Of this number, those within the age bracket of 25-34 were highest, with 23,328,460 or 29.1 per cent of the labour force.”
