National Bureau of Statistics, says in the third quarter of 2023 (Q3 2023) unemployment rate hit 5%.
This was contained in its document titled: “Nigeria Labour Force Statistics Report Q3 2023.”
NBS said: “The unemployment rate increased significantly in Q3 2023 at 5.0%.”
The bureau recalled that this is an increase of 0.8% from Q2 2023.
NBS further noted that the rate of unemployment among persons with post-secondary education was 7.8% in Q3 2023.
The data said the unemployment rate among youth aged (15-24 years) was 8.6% in Q3 2023, noting that there was an increase of 1.4% compared to Q2 2023.
According to the report, the unemployment rate in urban areas was 6.0% in Q3 2023, a slight increase of 0.1% from Q2 2023.
NBS said time-related underemployment in Q3 2023 was 12.3%, showing a slight increase of 0.5% from the rate recorded in Q2 2023.
This, it said, shows an increase of 1.4% compared to the rate in Q4 2022.
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In the period under review, 4.1% of the working-age population was in subsistence agriculture.
The document said the informal employment rate in Q3 2023 was 92.3%, while Q2 2023 was 92.7%.
The percentage of youth Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET Rate), according to the report, was 13.7% in Q3 2023.
NBS noted that the labour force participation rate among the working-age population declined to 79.5% in Q3 2023 compared to 80.4% in Q2 2023.
It said the employment-to-population ratio was 75.6% in Q3 2023 with a decrease of 1.5% compared to a ratio of Q2 2023.
According to the report, the combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment as a share of the labour force population (LU2) increased to 17.3% in Q3 2023 from 15.5% in Q2 2023.
The said noted that about 87.3% of workers were self-employed in Q3 2023.
NBS said the proportion of workers in Wage Employment in Q3 2023 was 12.7%.