Unemployment rate in Nigeria worsens by 4.2% to 14.2% at end of 2016

The Nigeria’s unemployment situation got worsened by 4.2 percent at the end of 2016, As against the figure of 10.0 per cent at the end of fourth quarter of 2015, the figure came to 14.2 per cent at the end of 2016.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed this in the data released on Monday and obtained by Business247 News Online.
According to the bureau, as against 13.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2016, Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose to 14.2 per cent at the end of the fourth quarter of 2016.
The NBS further explained that as the number of unemployed people in the economy was growing, the number of underemployed people was also rising.
According to the report, the underemployed rate rose to 21.0 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016 from 19.7 per cent recorded in the third quarter of the same year.
The rise in the unemployment and underemployment rate is attributed to the negative economic growth recorded by the nation in 2016.
The economically active population or working age population (persons within ages 15 and 64) increased from 108.03 million to 108.59 million, which represents a 0.5 per cent increase over the previous quarter and a 3.4 per cent increase when compared to Q4 2015.
The data explained that in the fourth quarter, the labour force population increased to 81.15 million from 80.67 million in third quarter of 2016, representing an increase of 0.6 per cent.
In addition, the total number of persons in full time employment decreased by 977,876 or 1.8 per cent when compared to the previous quarter, and decreased by 1.92 million or 3.5 per cent when compared to fourth quarter of 2015.
The number of underemployed in the labour force (those working but doing menial jobs not commensurate with their qualifications or those not engaged in fulltime work) increased by 1,109,551 or 7.0 per cent, resulting in an increase in the under-employment rate from 19.7 per cent (15.9 million persons) in third quarter 2016 to 21.0 per cent (17.03 million persons) in fourth quarter of 2016.
Also, in the fourth quarter of 2016, there were a total of 28.58 million persons in the Nigerian labour force that were either unemployed or under-employed compared to 27.12 million in the third quarter, 26.06 million in second quarter and 24.5 million in first quarter 2016.
The report also said that the unemployment and under-employment rates were higher for women than men in the fourth quarter of 2016 as 16.3 per cent of women in the labour force were unemployed, and a further 24.2 per cent of women in the labour force were under-employed.
For males, 12.3 per cent were unemployed, while 17.9 per cent of males in the labour force were under-employ, the bureau revealed.