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Nigeria’s unemployment rate rises in four successive quarters

23 Nov 2015, 07:53 pm
Chibuike Oguh
Nigeria’s unemployment rate rises in four successive quarters

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- The unemployment rose to 9.9 percent in the third quarter of 2015, from 8.9 percent in the second quarter of this year.

A view of the national stadium where tens of thousands of Nigerian jobseekers turned up to take a recruitment test in Abuja, Nigeria on March 15, 2014. A stampede at the stadium killed several people. DEJI YAKE / EPA

Nigeria’s unemployment rate has been steadily rising in the past four quarters. The unemployment rose to 9.9 percent in the third quarter of 2015, from 8.9 percent in the second quarter of this year.

The unemployment rate, which was 6.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, increased to 8.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015, the National Bureau of Statistics said in its latest figures.

In May, the Statistician of the Federation, Yemi Kale, announced that NBS had adopted a revised methodology, which drastically reduced Nigeria’s unemployment figures. Under the new methodology, anyone who worked for less than 20 hours in the reference week is unemployed, while anyone who worked between 20 to 39 hours in the reference week is underemployed.

Under the old methodology, Nigeria’s unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2015 would stand at 27.3 percent, up from 26.5 percent in the second of quarter 2015. The Q1 2015 figures would be 24.2 percent and 23.9 percent for Q4 of 2014.

According to the NBS, the economically active population or working age population (persons within ages 15 to 64) increased to 104.3 million in Q3 2015 from 103.5 million in Q2 2015 and 102.8 million in Q1.
Nigeria’s labour force population (those within the working age population willing, able and actively looking for work) also rose to 75.9 million in Q3 from 74.0 million in Q2 2015. This demographic also rose to 73.4 million in Q1 2015, from 72.9 million in Q4 2014.

The NBS attributed the steady rise in the labour force population to newly qualified graduates actively seeking work and previous members of the economically active population that chose not to work for whatever reasons in earlier periods.

Chibuike Oguh is Financial Nigeria's Frontier Marrkets Analyst






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