The latest labour market report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that the Nation’s unemployment rate increased by 1 percent from the 4.1 percent recorded in Q1, 2023 to 4.2 percent in Q2, 2023.
NBS said, the rate of unemployment among persons with post-secondary education was 8 percent in Q2 2023, while the unemployment rate among youths aged (15-24 years) in Q2 2023 was 7.2 percent, compared to 6.9 percent in Q1 2023.
The Bureau said, urban unemployment was 5.9 percent in Q2 2023, compared with 5.4 percent in Q1 2023, while unemployment in the rural areas was 2.5 percent, down from the 2.9 percent recorded in Q1 2023.
It said, the share of those in wage employment was 12.0 percent in Q2 2023, a marginal increase from the 11.08 percent recorded in Q1 2023.
NBS said, the rate of informal employment, which is the share of employed persons working in the informal sector and informal employment (including agriculture) in Q2 2023 was 92.7 percent, a slight increase from the rate reported in Q1 2023, 92.6 percent.
It said, the rate of informal employment among people living in rural areas was 97.3 percent while the urban informal employment was estimated at 88 percent.
It said, the time-related underemployment rate which is the share of employed people working less than 40 hours per week and declaring themselves willing and available to do more hours of work in Q2 2023 was 11.8 percent. This indicates a decline compared to the rate recorded in Q1 2023, which was 12.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the Bureau said, the labour force participation rate stood at 80.4 percent in Q2 2023, which was higher than the participation rate recorded in Q1 2023 (79.9 percent).
NBS said, the participation rate of men in the labour force under the reviewed period stood at 82.1 percent while for women records stood at 78.8 percent.
It said, the participation rate was higher in the rural areas with 82.6 percent, while the urban areas recorded 78.4 percent, indicating that most people were engaged in some form of work either for pay or profit, during the reference period
The Bureau said, the survey also collected information on the proportion of Youths aged (15-24 years) who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET). The figure for the reference quarter was estimated to be 13.9 percent
