PwC: Nigeria experiencing jobless growth

A new report by Pricewaterhouse Cooper says the job creation has not been growing despite the growth experienced by the economy.

The report, which was published on Friday, is titled Structural transformation and jobless growth in Nigeria.

“The latest available data puts the unemployment rate at 18.8%, and underemployment at 21.2%, the highest since the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) adopted a new methodology for measuring unemployment in 2010,” the report read.

“Between 2010 and 2017, average job growth was 1.6%, weaker than labour force growth of 3.9%. To reduce the unemployment rate, we estimate that employment growth of at least 4-5% is required.

“This would translate to at least 3 million new jobs annually.”

According to the report, a one percent increase in manufacturing growth translates to a 0.3% increase in employment.

the 2016 economic recession saw job creation decline to 422,000, the weakest in four years.

“Elasticity estimates show that a 1% increase in industrial sector growth led to a 1.3% increase in employment between 2010 and 2014.

“However, if the crude petroleum sector is excluded, the results show that a one percent increase in manufacturing growth led to a less than proportionate 0.3% increase in employment in manufacturing between 2010 and 2014.

“This suggests that the high elasticity is a reflection of the productivity of the crude petroleum sector which is capital intensive and absorbs only a few workers, usually with specialised skill sets. The manufacturing sector, on the other hand, has not been a strong driver of employment since 2010.”

The African Development Bank made similar comments in March saying “Although West Africa’s growth has been impressive, much of it came from increased primary commodities production, which does not create much productive employment and can lead to jobless growth.”