Nigeria’s unemployment rate rises to 33.3%

The unemployment rate in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, rose to 33.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 from 27.1 percent in Q2, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

The NBS, however, said the underemployment rate declined to 22.8 percent in the period under review from 28.6 percent in Q2.

It said the total number of people in employment (people with jobs) dropped by 20.6 per cent to 46,488,079 in Q4 compared to Q2.

“Of this number, 30,572,440 were full-time employed (i.e., worked 40+ hours per week), while 15,915,639 were under-employed (i.e., working between 20-29 hours per week),” it added.

The statistics office said the unemployment rate among rural dwellers increased to 34.5 percent from 28.2 percent in Q2, while that of urban dwellers rose by 31.3 percent from 26.4 percent.

It said, “In the case of underemployment among rural dwellers, it declined to 26.9 percent from 31.5 percent, while the rate among urban dwellers decreased to 16.2 percent from 23.2 percent in Q2 2020.

“For the period under review, Q4 2020, the unemployment rate among young people (15-34 years) was 42.5 percent, up from 34.9 percent, while the rate of underemployment for the same age group declined to 21.0 percent from 28.2 percent in Q2, 2020. These rates were the highest when compared to other age groupings.”

According to the NBS, 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 69,675,468.

“This was 13.22 percent less than the number persons in Q2, 2020. Of this number, those within the age bracket of 25-34 were highest, with 20,091,695 or 28.8 percent of the labour force,” it said.