NBS: Unemployment rate rose by 0.8% in Q3 2023

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s unemployment rate increased in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023 to 5.0 percent.

This represents an increase of 0.8 percent compared to 4.2 percent recorded in Q2 2023.

NBS made this known in its Q3 labour force report released recently.

The bureau defined the unemployment rate as the share of the labour force (the combination of unemployed and employed people) who are not employed but who are actively searching and are available for work.

“The unemployment rate by sex among men was 4.0% and among women was 6.0%. Disaggregation by location, the unemployment rate was 6.0% in urban areas and 4.0% in rural areas,” NBS said. 

“In terms of educational attainment, the unemployment rate was 7.8% among persons with post-secondary education, 6.3% for those with upper secondary education, 5.5% for those with lower secondary education, 4.8% for those with primary education, and 2.7% for those with no formal education.”

The bureau said time-related underemployment in Q3 2023 was 12.3 percent — a slight increase of 0.5 percent from the rate recorded in Q2 2023.

The time-related underemployment rate, according to NBS, is the share of employed people who are working less than 40 hours per week, but who would be willing and available to work more.

“This shows an increase of 1.4% compared to the rate in Q4 2022,” NBS said.

Commenting further, the bureau said labour force participation rate among the working-age population dropped to 79.5 percent in Q3 2023, compared to 80.4 percent in Q2 2023. 

“The employment-to-population ratio was 75.6% in Q3 2023 with a decrease of 1.5% compared to a ratio of Q2 2023,” NBS said.  

“The combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment as a share of the labour force population (LU2) increased to 17.3% in Q3 2023 from 15.5% in Q2 2023. 

“About 87.3% of workers were self-employed in Q3 2023. The proportion of workers in Wage Employment in Q3 2023 was 12.7%.”

According to NBS, 4.1 percent of the working-age population was in subsistence agriculture in Q3 2023. 

The report also said the informal employment rate in Q3 2023 was 92.3 percent, while it was 92.7 percent in Q2 2023.

Meanwhile, NBS said youth unemployment increased to 8.6 percent in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023 — from 7.2 percent in Q2 2023.

“The unemployment rate among youth aged (15-24 years) was 8.6% in Q3 2023. Increase of 1.4% compared to Q2 2023,” NBS said.

NBS said youth is classified as anyone between the ages of 15 to 24 years old.