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Tag: unemployment rate

  • JUST IN: Unemployment rate decreases to 4.3 percent  

    JUST IN: Unemployment rate decreases to 4.3 percent  

    In the second quarter of 2024 (Q2 2024) unemployment rate declined to 4.3 percent from the 5.3 percent recorded in the first quarter (Q1 2024).

    The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Statistician General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran disclosed this yesterday in a press statement on ” Q2 2024 Nigerian Labour Force Survey (NLFS).

    He said: “The unemployment rate during the period was 4.3 per cent, which shows a decrease compared to the rate recorded in Q1 2024 (5.3 per cent).”

    He also said the unemployment rate among persons with upper-secondary education was 8.5 per cent in Q2 2024, while the unemployment rate among youths aged (15-24 and 25-34 years) in Q2 2024 was 6.5 per cent each and the highest.

    Urban unemployment, according to him, was 5.2 percent in Q2 2024, compared with 6 percent in Q1 2024, while unemployment in the rural areas was 2.8 per cent, down from the 4.3 percent recorded in Q1 2024. 

    Adeniran said the  share of those in wage employment was 14.4 percent in Q2 2024, a marginal decrease from the 16 per cent recorded in Q1 2024. 

    He said the rate of informal employment, which is the share of employed persons working in the informal sector and informal employment (including agriculture) in Q2 2024 was 93.0 per cent, a slight increase from the rate reported in Q1 2024, 92.7 per cent.  

    He said the  rate of informal employment among people living in rural areas,.said the NBS boss, was 97.5 per cent while the urban informal employment was estimated at 90 per cent. 

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    He said the Time-related underemployment rate which is the share of employed people working less than 40 hours per week and declaring themselves willing and available to do more hours of work in Q2 2024 was 9.2 percent.

     This, according to him, indicates a decline compared to the rate recorded in Q1 2024, which was 10.6 per cent. 

    He said the  survey also collected information on the proportion of Youths aged (15-24 years) who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET). 

    The NEET rate for the reference quarter was estimated to be 12.5 per cent, a decrease from 14.4 per cent recorded in Q1 of 2024. 

    The Statistician General of the Federation said the  labour force participation rate stood at 79.5 per cent in Q2 2024, higher than the participation rate recorded in Q1 2024 (77.3 per cent).

    He said the participation rate of men in the labour force under the reviewed period stood at 79.9 per cent while for women records stood at 79.1 per cent. 

    According to him, the participation rate was higher in the rural areas with 83.2 per cent, while the urban areas recorded 77.2 per cent, indicating that most people were engaged in some form of work either for pay or profit, during the reference period.

    Introducing the topic, he said “Following the review of Nigeria Labour Force Survey methodological processes for conducting Labour Force Statistics in line with international best practices and adaptation of the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) recommendation to the Nigeria standard. 

    NBS, he said, has been releasing consistently the official labour force statistics for the country since Q4 2022.

     He further said this  quarter (2nd Quarter of 2024) estimates as presented in the report shows the performance of different labour force indicators that will be useful for informing policy making in the country.

    The statement reads in part: “This enhanced methodology using GPS-enabled electronic collection from sampled households across the country allows for better quality responses, field monitoring and analysis of the data. It also allows the production of more policy-relevant indicators than what was produced under the old method using the questionnaire. 

    “Therefore, it enables the government and other users of the data to design and monitor Labour market policies and programmes within the country.”

  • Unemployment rate to hit 33.5 per cent in 2020, says Fed Govt

    The prevailing unemployment may not abate soon, the Federal Government alerted yesterday, predicting that the current 23.1 per cent will rise to 33.5 per cent by next year.

    Labour & Employment Minister Chris Ngige broke the new at the opening of a two-day workshop on “breaking the resilience of high unemployment rate” in Abuja.

    Senator Ngige said that the incessant increase in unemployment was alarming.

    The minister described the high unemployment rate of 23.1 per cent and underemployment of 16.6 per cent presented by the National Bureau Statistics (NBS) in its 2019 report as alarming.

    Ngige said: “It is a worrisome status as the global poverty capital (World Bank, 2018); and concomitant high prevalence rate of crimes and criminalities, including mass murders, insurgency, militancy, armed robbery, kidnappings, drug abuse, among others.

    “As if this situation is not scary enough, it is projected that the unemployment rate for this country would reach 33.5 per cent by 2020, with consequences that are better imagined, if the trend is not urgently reversed.

    “It is a thing of joy to note that Nigeria has not been resting on its oars over the years in terms of dedicated efforts to curb the unemployment”.

    The minister said the various government Social Intervention Programmes (SIPs), targeted at reducing youth unemployment and eradicating poverty, had been implemented by various administrations since independence.

    According to him, available records show that between 1972 to date, about 14 (SIPs) have been implemented, including the National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP), implemented between 1972 and 1973 and the current National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), which has been on-going since 2017, embedded in the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020.

    Ngige said that in spite of this, unemployment rate and poverty levels had been on a steady path of growth, indicating high resilience against the intervention efforts.

    The questions to ask, he said, are: why are these intervention efforts not yielding expected results? What are the government and other stakeholders not doing right?

    “What changes are needed in the policies, plans and strategies? What action areas need priority attention? What roles should different stakeholders play? What other options are not being exploited?

    “Why do we employ expatriates for jobs Nigerians can do or why can´t Nigerians do these jobs? Why do we have deficits in housing, water, sanitation, food, entertainment facilities, health care, and education, among others?

    “How do we deploy our population of productive age to fill the skills’ gaps needed for our national development? How do we break the resilience of high unemployment rate in the country?’’

    Ngige called for a collaborative mechanism that would yield results while assuring that the recommendations from the workshop will receive prompt and sustained attention.

    The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, William Alo,  said the workshop was aimed at examining issues around the persistent high unemployment rate in Nigeria with a view to making concrete recommendations on how to tackle the menace.

    He said: “This workshop is very important to the Ministry of Labour & Employment due to the direct relevance of the theme to the Ministry’s mandate.

    “However, the fact remains that the consequences of high unemployment rate in Nigeria affect each and every one of us as individuals and as members of the Nigerian societies.

    “The objectives of this workshop are, therefore to present the findings of the survey on how to break the Resilience of High Unemployment Rate in Nigeria to the peer community.

    “To stimulate actions towards exploiting untapped available options for massive job creation; to chart way forward on immediate next steps that would yield measurable results”.

    Country Director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Nigeria, Danis Zulu, said unemployment was a major concern to the ILO, especially in Nigeria with significant proportion of unemployed youth.

    Zulu said: “We believe that if Nigeria addresses the issue of unemployment, it will go a long way to address the whole problem that is faced in Africa to that extent.

    “Let me say that over the years, we have recognised the commitment of the Federal Government of Nigeria, where it has approved various initiatives, including the adoption of Employment Policy of 2017.

    “This was approved by the National Executive Council that provides a blueprint for strategies as far as the creation of jobs for Nigerian concerned. We have also taken note of the different programmes that have been implemented by the Office of the Vice President.

    “These are the N-Power programme, SURE- P programme some years ago and many other ongoing programmes, ultimately supposed to contribute to the creation of jobs for young people in Nigeria.”

  • Unemployment rate unacceptable, says Ngige

    Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige yesterday said the nation’s current unemployment rate was unacceptable.

    No country, he stated, can develop by leaving out a vast percentage of its productive human capacity.

    The minister said the current administration was committed to job creation and provision of decent employment opportunity for Nigerians within the productive age.

    A statement from the ministry said Ngige spoke at a validation workshop on the reviewed National Employment Policy (NEP) organised by the Ministry in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria.

    The minister said: “There is urgent need to engage a larger percentage of the productive age in decent, fairly remunerated and sustainable means of livelihood either as wage earners or self-employed while preserving existing gainful employments.”

    Ngige stated the revised NEP addresses concerns such as employment of the physically challenged, international labour migration, decent work components and higher education for employability including green jobs amongst others.

    He advocated objective and assiduous cooperation of all stakeholders to tackle the unemployment gap.

    The Director ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana Liberia, Sierra Leone and Liason Office of ECOWAS, Dennis Zulu, expressed confidence that the reviewed employment policy will enhance coherent, integrated and sustainable multi-sectorial response to combat the challenges of unemployment.

    Zulu appealed to the federal government to ratify the ILO convention 122, saying that the reviewed national employment policy is already in line with the objectives of the conventions.

  • ‘Unemployment rate rises to 8.2 per cent’

    ‘Unemployment rate rises to 8.2 per cent’

    Unemployment rate is on the rise, the National  Bureau of Statistics (NBS) alerted yesterday.

    The Bureau said the unemployment rate in the second quarter (Q2) of the year rose to 8.2 per cent from the 7.5 per cent rate it was in the preceding quarter.

    The latest rise was the consecutive jump in unemployment rate since the third quarter of last year.

    NBS explained that the economically active population or working age, comprising persons within the 15 to 64 age bracket, increased to 103.5 million in the  Q2 up from 102.8 million in the first quarter.

    It  also disclosed that the labour force population, comprising those within the working age, who are willing, able and actively looking for work, increased to 74.0 million in Q2 from 73.4 million in Q1, indicating an increase in the labour force by 0.81 per cent.

    By implication, 574,498 economically active persons aged between 15 and 64 joined the labour market during the quarter under review.

    The agency attributed the decline in the number  of full employment or those working less than 40 hours despite a rise in the labour force to job losses or previously fully-employed persons, choosing or being forced to work part-time or in underemployment.

    It further clarified that with an economically active or working age population of 103.5 million and labour force population of 74.0 million, the rate indicated that 29.5 million persons within the economically active or working age population decided not to work for various reasons in Q2, compared to 29.3 million in Q1 of the year.

  • Experts lament ILO’s projected 208m unemployment rate

    Experts lament ILO’s projected 208m unemployment rate

    Experts are ill-at ease over the already gloomy unemployment situation across the globe judging by the new report released by the International Labour Organisation, ILO, which indicates that the number of unemployed persons in the world could rise to 208 million by 2015.

    According to the World of Work report released in Geneva, Switzerland, the ILO revealed that global unemployment was expected to hit 208 million in 2015, a rise from the current 200 million unemployed people across the world.

    The report also added that “long-standing labour market imbalances, such as high levels of labour market informality in developing countries and long-term unemployment in advanced economies, will remain acute.”

    In Nigeria where unemployment is on the increase, the ILO suggested that to check the trend, countries could benefit from well-designed social protection and a boost of labour income.

    The ILO report stated that “too low a level reduces the relevance of minimum wages; too high a level runs the risk of firms refusing to comply. Importantly, the report highlights the point that regular updates and the engagement of workers’ and employers’ organisations in minimum wage setting are crucial to leveraging the benefits of minimum wages and ensuring that they pave the way for decent work opportunities.”

    Tagged: “Repairing the economic and social fabric”, the report recommended “Investment in key infrastructure projects, along with measures to facilitate the transition to formal employment and to expand well-crafted social protection and minimum wages that would help to further that objective.”

    The report added that “Such policies would not only boost growth now, but would also consolidate the emergence of a large and growing middle-income group –which is essential for ensuring genuinely autonomous economic growth.”

    Relating minimum wage to unemployment, the ILO report stated that “About half of the 151 countries for which data are available do not have a comprehensive system of minimum wages. And, in those countries where minimum wage legislation does exist, stronger action is often needed to improve compliance.”

    Reacting to the report, Dr. Abel Umeh, an economist, said, the employment situation is a serious cause for concern.

    On the implication on the nation’s economy, Umeh said, “It is certain that the country is not prepared for the worst. You can be sure that the government will pay scant regard to this whole report. In saner climes, such report will galvanise them to action but it is the reverse here.”

    Echoing similar sentiments, Tayo Olapade, a financial analyst, noted that the ILO’s projection on unemployment should be a wake-up call to government at all levels to see how to mitigate the unemployment situation in the country ahead of the set date.

    “Even without the ILO projection what we are already contending with is a huge crisis if you consider the spate of youthful unrest and terrorism threat in different parts of the country. So the government can only fail to heed the call at its own peril,” Olapade stressed.