In the second quarter of 2024 (Q2 2024) unemployment rate declined to 4.3 percent from the 5.3 percent recorded in the first quarter (Q1 2024).

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Statistician General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran disclosed this yesterday in a press statement on ” Q2 2024 Nigerian Labor Force Survey (NLFS).

He said: “The unemployment rate during the period was 4.3 per cent, which shows a decrease compared to the rate recorded in Q1 2024 (5.3 per cent).”

He also said the unemployment rate among persons with upper-secondary education was 8.5 per cent in Q2 2024, while the unemployment rate among youths aged (15-24 and 25-34 years) in Q2 2024 was 6.5 per cent each and the highest.

Urban unemployment, according to him, was 5.2 percent in Q2 2024, compared with 6 percent in Q1 2024, while unemployment in the rural areas was 2.8 per cent, down from the 4.3 percent recorded in Q1 2024. 

Adeniran said the  share of those in wage employment was 14.4 percent in Q2 2024, a marginal decrease from the 16 per cent recorded in Q1 2024. 

He 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 2024 was 93.0 per cent, a slight increase from the rate reported in Q1 2024, 92.7 per cent.  

He said the  rate of informal employment among people living in rural areas,. Said the NBS boss, was 97.5 per cent while the urban informal employment was estimated at 90 per cent. 

He 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 2024 was 9.2 percent.

This, according to him, indicates a decline compared to the rate recorded in Q1 2024, which was 10.6 per cent. 

He 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 NEET rate for the reference quarter was estimated to be 12.5 per cent, a decrease from 14.4 per cent recorded in Q1 of 2024. 

The Statistician General of the Federation said the  labor force participation rate stood at 79.5 per cent in Q2 2024, higher than the participation rate recorded in Q1 2024 (77.3 per cent).

He said the participation rate of men in the labor force under the reviewed period stood at 79.9 per cent while for women records stood at 79.1 per cent. 

According to him, the participation rate was higher in the rural areas with 83.2 per cent, while the urban areas recorded 77.2 per cent, indicating that most people were engaged in some form of work either for pay or profit, during the reference period.

Introducing the topic, he said “Following the review of Nigeria Labor Force Survey methodological processes for conducting Labor Force Statistics in line with international best practices and adaptation of the 19th International Conference of Labor Statisticians (ICLS) recommendation to the Nigeria standard. 

NBS, he said, has been releasing consistently the official labor force statistics for the country since Q4 2022.

 He further said this  quarter (2nd Quarter of 2024) estimates as presented in the report shows the performance of different labor force indicators that will be useful for informing policy making in the country.

The statement reads in part: “This enhanced methodology using GPS-enabled electronic collection from sampled households across the country allows for better quality responses, field monitoring and analysis of the data. It also allows the production of more policy-relevant indicators than what was produced under the old method using the questionnaire. 

“Therefore, it enables the government and other users of the data to design and monitor Labour market policies and programmes within the country.”

THE NATION