The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released the latest unemployment figures showing that Nigeria’s unemployment rate under the COVID-19 pandemic which is the second quarter of 2020, has risen to 27.1 per cent, up from 23.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2018.
The number of young adults, those between the ages of 15 and 34 appear to be the worst hit from the pandemic.
The unemployment rate within the age group rose from 29.7 per cent to 34.9 per cent.
NBS published the new labour statistics on its website on Friday.
It is yet to publish employment figures for the whole of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.
The latest figures however show the number of persons in the economically active or working age population (15 – 64 years of age) during the reference period of the survey, Q2, 2020 was 116,871,186.
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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.
The total number of people in employment (i.e. people with jobs) during the reference period rose to 31.5 per cent from 22.8 per cent, while the rate among urban dwellers rose to 23.2 per cent from 58,527,276.
Of this number, 35,585,274 were full-time employed (i.e. worked 40+ hours per week), while 22,942,003 were under-employed (i.e. working between 20-29 hours per week).
This figure is 15.8 per cent less than the people in employment in Q3, 2018.
The unemployment rate during the reference period, Q2, 2020 was 27.1 per cent, up from the 23.1 per recorded in Q3, 2018.
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The underemployment rate increased from 20.1 in Q3, 2018 to 28.6 per cent.
For the period under review, Q2, 2020, the unemployment rate among young people (15-34years) was 34.9 per cent, up from 29.7 per cent, while the rate of underemployment for the same age group rose to 28.2 per cent from 25.7 per cent in Q3, 2018.
These rates were the highest when compared to other age groupings.
