Nigeria unemployment rate hits 33.3%

Nigeria’s unemployment rate hit a new record high at 33.3 percent in the fourth quarter (Q4) 2020 from 27.1 recorded in the second quarter (Q2) 2020.

According to the Q4 report on unemployment released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, a total of 23.18 million persons in Nigeria either did nothing or worked for less than 20 hours a week, making them unemployed during the fourth quarter (Q4) 2020.

During the period, while the underemployment rate decreased from 28.6 percent to 22.8 percent, a combination of both the unemployment and underemployment rate for the reference period gave a figure of 56.1 percent.

“In the case of unemployment by state, Imo State recorded the highest rate of unemployment with 56.64%. This was followed by Adamawa with 54.89% and Cross Rivers State with 53.65%. The States with the lowest rates were Osun, Benue, and Zamfara State with 11.65%, 11.98%, and 12.99% respectively. In the case of underemployment, Benue State recorded the highest rate with 43.52%, followed by Zamfara and Jigawa States with 41.73% and 41.29% respectively,” the report said.

“Combining both unemployment and underemployment, the state that recorded the highest rate was Imo with 82.5% followed by Jigawa with 80%. Ogun and Sokoto states recorded the lowest of the combined rates, 26.2%, and 33.7% respectively.”