NBS: 23.18m Nigerians Jobless as Unemployment Rate Rises to 33.3%

Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose from 27.1 per cent in the
second quarter of 2020 to 33.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of
2020, the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics
revealed on Monday.

The NBS stated in its report on ‘Labour force Statistics:
Unemployment and underemployment report- Abridged labour force
survey under COVID-19 (Q4, 2020) that this translates to 23.19
million unemployed people.

Part of the report read, “During the reference period, the
computed national unemployment rate rose from 27.1 per cent in Q2,
2020 to 33.3 per cent in Q4, 2020, while the underemployment rate
decreased from 28.6 per cent to 22.8 per cent.

“A combination of both the unemployment and underemployment rate
for the reference period gave a figure of 56.1 per cent.

“This means that 33.3 per cent of the labour force in Nigeria or
23,187,389 persons either did nothing or worked for less than 20
hours a week, making them unemployed by our definition in
Nigeria.

“This is an additional 1,422,772 persons from the number in that
category in Q2, 2020.

“Using the international definition of unemployment, the rate
was computed to be 17.5 per cent.”

Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose from 27.1 per cent in the
second quarter of 2020 to 33.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of
2020, the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics
revealed on Monday.

The NBS stated in its report on ‘Labour force Statistics:
Unemployment and underemployment report- Abridged labour force
survey under COVID-19 (Q4, 2020) that this translates to 23.19
million unemployed people.

Part of the report read, “During the reference period, the
computed national unemployment rate rose from 27.1 per cent in Q2,
2020 to 33.3 per cent in Q4, 2020, while the underemployment rate
decreased from 28.6 per cent to 22.8 per cent.

“A combination of both the unemployment and underemployment rate
for the reference period gave a figure of 56.1 per cent.

“This means that 33.3 per cent of the labour force in Nigeria or
23,187,389 persons either did nothing or worked for less than 20
hours a week, making them unemployed by our definition in
Nigeria.

“This is an additional 1,422,772 persons from the number in that
category in Q2, 2020.

“Using the international definition of unemployment, the rate
was computed to be 17.5 per cent.”