NBS: Unemployment Rose Marginally to 4.2% in Second Quarter

James Emejo in Abuja

The country’s unemployment rate increased marginally to 4.2 per cent the second quarter of the year (Q2 2023) compared to 4.1 per cent in the preceding quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday.
According to the Q2 2023 Nigerian Labour Force Survey (NLFS), which was released by the statistical agency, the rate of unemployment among persons with post-secondary education was 8 per cent in Q2 2023.

Unemployment rate among youths aged  (15-24 years) in Q2 2023 was 7.2 per cent, compared to 6.9 per cent in Q1 2023, the NBS stated.
Urban unemployment was 5.9 per cent in Q2 compared with 5.4 per cent in Q1 while unemployment in the rural areas was 2.5 per cent, down from the 2.9 percent recorded in the preceding quarter.

The share of those in wage employment was 12.0 per cent in Q2, indicating a marginal increase from the 11.08 per cent recorded in Q1.
The NBS said the rate of informal employment, which is the share of employed persons working in the informal sector and informal employment (including agriculture) stood at 92.7 per cent, a slight increase from 92.6 per cent in Q1.

The rate of informal employment among people living in rural areas stood at 97.3 per cent while the urban informal employment was estimated at 88 per cent.
Essentially, the labour force participation rate stood at 80.4 per cent in Q2 2023, which was higher than 79.9 per cent in the preceding quarter.
The NBS also stated that the participation rate of men in the labour force under the reviewed period stood at 82.1 per cent while for women records stood at 78.8 per cent.
It said the participation rate was higher in the rural areas with 82.6 per cent, while the urban areas recorded 78.4 per cent, indicating that most people were engaged in some form of work either for pay or profit, during the reference period.