The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed that the country’s unemployment rate dropped from 5.3 percent to 4.1% in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023. The Bureau made this known in a statement issued on Thursday, stating that new methodology was used to for the latest unemployment report.
The statement reads, “The latest Nigeria Labour Force Survey (NLFS) report sheds light on the dynamics of labour market within the country.
“This report covers the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, presenting an in-depth analysis of key labour market indicators such as employment, including unemployment rates, underemployment rates, hours worked and informal employment.
“The revised methodology aligns with our contemporaries in Africa such as Ghana, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Benin, Gambia etc, in line with international best practices.”
According to the statement, the old methodology placed the range of the working-age population as 15 to 64 years, 20 to 39 hours of working hours was pegged as underemployment while 1 to 19 hours was considered as unemployment.
