National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has put the number of Nigerians that are currently being employed at 58.52 million, while 22.94 million Nigerians are engaged in time-related jobs or underemployed, and 35.59 million have full-time employment.
In the figure it released today, August 15, the NBS put the number of Nigerians that currently unemployed at 21.77 million in the second quarter of this year (Q2 2020), compared to 20.93 million in Q3 2018.
The data on the nation’s unemployment rate released after a 20-month interval, also showed that the country’s unemployment rate increased to 27.1 per cent in the second quarter of the year (Q2 2020), compared to 23.1 per cent recorded in Q3 2018.
The NBS noted that the figure represented an increase of 836,969 persons who were without jobs when compared to Q3 2018, adding that unemployment rate is estimated at 11.7 per cent, using the international definition.
According to the NBS data, the working age population is estimated at 112.39 million with an active labour force of 80.29 million, while 32.10 million people are not currently in the labour force.
According to the Labour Force Statistics: “Abridged Labour Force Survey Under COVID-19” report, underemployment rate increased to 28.6 per cent from 20.1 per cent in Q3 2018.
The NBS pointed out that unemployment rate among young people (15-34 years) 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.
It added that unemployment rate among rural dwellers increased to 28 per cent compared to 23.9 per cent in Q3 2018, while urban dwellers reported a rate of 25.4 per cent up from 21.2 per cent.
Underemployment among rural dwellers, further rose to 31.5 per cent from 22.8 per cent, and for urban dwellers, it increased to 23.2 per cent from 13.7 per cent in Q3, 2018.
