The National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) says the unemployment rate in Nigeria increased to 4.2% in Q2 2023 from the 4.1% recorded in Q1 2023.
The NBS said this in its Nigeria Labour Force Survey for Q2 2023, released in Abuja on Thursday.
It said the unemployment rate was defined as the share of the labour force who were not employed but who were actively searching and were available for work.
In terms of educational attainment, the report said the rate of unemployment among persons with post-secondary education was 8.0% in Q2 2023.
"Those with upper secondary education was 5.4%, while those with lower secondary education was 3.7%, 3% for those with primary education and 2.5% for those with no formal education."
It said the unemployment rate among youth aged (15-24 years) in Q2 2023 was 7.2% compared to the 6.9% recorded in Q1 2023.
The report said the unemployment rate among men was 3.5% and 5.9% among women in Q2 2023.
"The unemployment rate in urban areas was 5.9% in Q2 2023, which was an increase from the 5.4% recorded in Q1 2023.
"While the unemployment rate in rural areas was 2.5% in Q2 2023, which was a decline from the 2.9% recorded in Q1 2023."
The NBS said time-related underemployment in Q2 2023 was 11.8% compared to 12.2% recorded in Q1 2023.
It said time-related underemployment rate was the share of employed people who were working less than 40 hours per week, but who would be willing and available to work more.
"The share of employed men that were underemployed was 8.4% while the share of employed women that were underemployed was 15.3% in Q2 2023.
"The underemployment rate was 10.3% in urban areas and 13.2% in rural areas."
The NBS said the share of employed persons aged 15 to 24 years that were underemployed was 19.3%.
The report said the combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment as a share of the labour force population (LU2) was 15.5% in Q2 2023.
The NBS said the labour force participation rate among the working-age population in Nigeria was 80% in Q2 2023 compared to 79.9% recorded in Q1 2023.
The report said the participation rate among men was 82.1% while for women it was 78.8%.
"The participation rate was 78.4% in urban areas and 82.6% in rural areas in Q2 2023."
It said the employment-to-population ratio, which was the proportion of the working-age population that was employed was 77.1% in Q2 2023.
The report said the employment-to-population ratio for men and women was 79.3% and 74.9%, respectively.
"The employment-to-population ratio in urban areas was 73.8% compared to 80.5% in rural areas in Q2 2023."
The report said 88% of employed Nigerians were primarily self-employed with the remaining 12% engaged as employees (wage employment) in Q2 2023.
It said 85.2% of employed men were self-employed, while 91% of employed women were self-employed.
While men and women engaged as employees (wage employment) was reported at 14.8% and 9%, respectively.
The report said 8% of the working-age population were in subsistence agriculture. The NBS said the informal employment rate in Q2 2023 was 92.7%.
It said in Q2 2023, the percentage of youth (15-24 years) identified as Young Persons Not in Employment, Education nor Training (NEET) was 13.8%.
"This is an increase from the 12.1% and 10% recorded in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023, respectively," the NBS said.