The nation’s unemployment rate increased to 5.3% in Q1, 2024 from the 5.0% recorded in Q1 2023.
This was contained in the latest Labour Force Survey Results released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday.
NBS said, by place of residence, the rate was 6.0% in urban areas and 4.3% in rural areas for Q1 2024
The Bureau said, in Q1 2024, the labour force participation rate among the working-age population declined to 77.3% in Q1 2024, from 79.5% in Q3 2023.
According to the Survey, the employment-to-population ratio was 73.2% in Q1 2024. This is a decrease of 2.4 percentage points compared to a ratio of 75.6% in Q3 2023.
It said, the ratio in urban areas was 69.5% and 78.9% in rural areas in Q1 2024. This is a decrease in the ratio compared to the 71.1% and 80.7% in Q3 2023, respectively.
Meanwhile, the survey revealed that the proportion of workers in wage employment rose to 16.0% in Q1 2024, a 3.3 percentage point increase from 12.7% in Q3 2023.
By gender, it said, 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%.
Unemployment based on educational attainment shows that the unemployment rate among persons with post-graduate education was 2.0%, 9.0% among those with post-secondary education, 6.9% for those with secondary education, and 4.0% among those with primary education in Q1 2024.
NBS said, the unemployment rate among youth aged (15-24 years) was 8.4% in Q1 2024, a decrease of 0.2% compared to Q3 2023 (8.6%).
It said, the time-related underemployment in Q1 2024 was 10.6%, showing a decrease of 1.7% from the rate of 12.3% recorded in Q3 2023.
The Bureau said, the percentage of youth not in education, employment, or training (NEET rate) was 14.4% in Q1 2024, showing a 0.7 percentage point increase from 13.7% in Q3 2023. The results also showed a higher NEET rate among females at 15.9%, compared to 13.0% for males in Q3 2023.
Nationally, it said, 1.5% of employed Nigerians spent between 1-9 hours in a week, 4.8% spent between 10-19 hours in a week, approximately 25% worked between 20-39 hours, 22% between 40-48 hours, and the 46% worked 48hours and above in a week.
