The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the unemployment rate in Nigeria increased to 5.3% in Q1 2024 from the 5.0% recorded in Q3 2023.
The NBS said this in its Nigeria Labour Force Survey for Q1 2024, released in Abuja on Tuesday.
The bureau 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-graduate education was 2.0% in Q1 2024.
“While unemployment among those with post-secondary education was 9.0%, while those with secondary education was 6.9%, and 4.0% for those with primary education.”
It said the unemployment rate among youth aged (15-24 years) in Q1 2024 was 8.4%, which was a decrease of 0.2% compared to the 8.6% recorded in Q3 2023.
The report said the unemployment rate among males was 4.3% and 6.2% among females in Q1 2024.
“The unemployment rate was 6.0% in urban areas and 4.3% in rural areas in Q1 2024.”
The NBS said time-related underemployment in Q1 2024 was 10.6%, indicating a decrease of 1.7% from the 12.3% recorded in Q3 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 the underemployed men was 8.5%, while the share of underemployed women was 12.5% in Q1 2024.
“The underemployment rate was 9.7% in urban areas and 11.8% in rural areas.”
The NBS said the labour force participation rate among the working-age population in Nigeria dropped to 77.3 per cent in Q1 2024 compared to 79.5 recorded in Q3 2023.
The report said the participation rate among males was 77.5% while for females it was 77.1%.
It said the employment-to-population ratio, which was the proportion of the working-age population that was employed was 73.2% in Q1 2024
“This indicates a decline of 2.4% compared to a ratio of 75.6 recorded in Q3 2023.
“The ratio in urban areas was 69.5% and 78.9% in rural areas in Q1 2024, indicating a decrease in the ratio compared to the 71.1% and 80.7% in Q3 2023, respectively.”
The report said there was a 3.3 percentage point increase in the proportion of workers in wage employment, from a record 12.7% recorded in Q3 2023 to 16.0% in Q1 2024.
“By gender, 20.1% of males were in wage employment, compared to 12.1% of females.
“Wage employment was also higher in urban areas, at 21.8% than in rural areas, where it stood at 8.1%.”
It said in Q1 2024, the percentage of youth (15-24 years) identified as Young Persons Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) was 14.4%
“This indicates a 0.7 percentage point increase from 13.7% in Q3 2023.”
The report also showed in Q1 2024, there were more females in NEET with 15.9% compared to 15.5% in Q3 2023.
“Males in NEET accounted for 13.0% in Q1 2024.”
The NBS said 1.5% of employed Nigerians spent between one to nine hours a week working, while 4.8% spent between 10 to 19 hours a week.
“Approximately 25% worked between 20 to 39 hours, while 22% spent between 40 to 48 hours, and 46% worked 48 hours and above in a week.”