More Nigerian graduates become jobless, unemployment rate hits 21%

shakirudeen taiwo

June 6, 2017 10:38 AM

The report noted that Nigeria has a high youth unemployment (25.2%), while about 61.5% of those with gainful employment are working below their minimum capability and capacity (Underemployment rate).

Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige

The unemployment rate in Nigeria as at Q4 2016 was estimated at 21% in a report released on Monday, June 5, 2017, by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The NBS Labour Statistics report showed unemployment rate increased by 14.2% in Q4 2016, which is the third conservative quarter-on-quarter increase in 2016.

It would be recalled that Nigerian economy slides into recession in Q2 2016, and had led to massive job loss across all sectors in the economy.

As the end of 2015, Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 10.4%, while as at the swearing of the current administration unemployment rate was noted at 7.5%. One which indicates the employment rate in the country is slow compared to the labour force.

In actual numbers, 2.9 graduates were estimated to lose their jobs within the period while the number of unemployed people increased from 11.1 million in Q3 2016 to 11.59 million in the fourth quarter of 2016.

This report indicates that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has added 35 million people to the pool of employed Nigerians, as there were only 8 million unemployed Nigerians as at May 29, 2015.

This report calls for government across all tiers to increase their job creation and economic empowerment initiatives, and focus on removing many hurdles faced by small businesses in the country.

shakirudeen taiwo