Unemployment rate falls to 4.3% in Nigeria - report

• Nigeria’s unemployment rate declined to 4.3% in the second quarter of 2024
• Compared to the 5.0% in Q3 2023 and the 5.3% in Q1 2024, this was a gradual recovery
• The unemployment rate by residential location was 2.8% in rural areas and 5.2% in urban areas

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

In the second quarter of 2024, Nigeria's unemployment rate decreased to 4.3%, indicating better labor market circumstances.

The Employment-to-Population Ratio improved significantly. Photo Credit: FluxFactory
Source: Getty Images

This was a slow rebound from the 5.0% in Q3 2023 and a decline from the 5.3% in Q1 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics' most recent report, which was made public on Monday.

Improved worker engagement was demonstrated by the Labour Force Participation Rate, which improved to 79.5% from 77.3% in the prior quarter.

Additionally, the Employment-to-Population Ratio improved significantly, rising from 73.2% in Q1 2024 to 76.1% in Q2 2024.

This suggests that during that time, a larger percentage of people of working age had gainful employment.

Additionally, self-employment continued to dominate, making for 85.6% of all employment, up from 84% in the previous quarter.

The economy's reliance on informal jobs is highlighted by the minor increase in informal employment to 93.0%.

The report read,

“Unemployment is one of the components of labour underutilisation. The unemployment rate for Q2 2024 was 4.3 per cent, showing an increase of 0.1 percentage point compared to the same period last year.“The unemployment rate among males was 3.4 per cent and 5.1 per cent among females.“By place of residence, the unemployment rate was 5.2 per cent in urban areas and 2.8 per cent in rural areas. Youth unemployment rate was 6.5 per cent in Q2 2024, showing a decrease from 8.4 per cent in Q1 2024.”

States with highest number of unemployed people

Legit.ng reported that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose to 5.3% in the first quarter of 2024, reflecting an increase from 5.0 recorded in the third quarter of 2023.

According to the NBS report, Abia, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and Rivers states recorded the highest unemployment rates in Nigeria in 2023.

The report also stated that Abia State leads the chart with an unemployment rate of 18.7%, followed by the FCT with 14.1%, and Rivers with 13.4%.

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Source: Legit.ng