The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that the unemployment rate grew by 0.1 percentage points to 4.2 percent in the second quarter of 2023 (Q2’23) from 4.1 percent in Q1’23.
The bureau disclosed this yesterday in its Labour Force Statistics for Q2’23.
According to NBS, the unemployment rate among men was 3.5 percent and 5.9 percent for women in Q2’23.
The report also showed that in Q2’23, the share of employed Nigerians that were underemployed was 11.8 percent, a 0.4 percentage point decline from 12.2 percent in Q1’23.
The NBS report stated: “The unemployment rate for Q2’23 was 4.2 percent, this is a marginal increase from 4.1 percent recorded in Q1’23.
“Unemployment rate by sex among men was 3.5 percent and among women was 5.9 percent in Q2’23. “Disaggregation by location, the unemployment rate was 5.9 percent in urban areas and 2.5 percent in rural areas.
“Focusing on young people, the unemployment rate for 15-24 year olds was 7.2 percent in Q2’23.
“In terms of educational attainment, the unemployment rate was 8.0 percent for those with post secondary education, 5.4 percent for those with upper secondary education, 3.7 percent for those with lower secondary education, 3.0 percent for those with primary education, and 2.5 percent for those with no formal education.”
On underemployment rate, NBS said: “In Q2’23, the share of employed Nigerians that were underemployed was 11.8 percent.
“In Q1 2023, the share of employed Nigerians that were underemployed was 12.2 percent. In disaggregating underemployment by sex, the share of employed men that were underemployed was 8.4 percent while the share of employed women that were underemployed was 15.3 percent in Q2’23.
“While disaggregation by location, the underemployment rate was 10.3 percent in urban areas and 13.2 percent in rural areas.
“The share of employed persons aged 15 to 24 years that were underemployed was 19.3 percent.”
NBS noted that the employment-to-population ratio is the proportion of the working-age population that is employed.
It added: “In Q2’23, 77.1 percent of Nigeria’s working-age population was in employment.
“The employment-to-population ratio in urban areas was 73.8 percent compared to 80.5 percent in rural areas.”
