“Nigerian Economy Added 475,180 Jobs in Third Quarter 2015” – NBS

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, Nigerian economy generated 475,180 jobs in the third quarter of the year (Q3 2015).

This represented a significant rise of 236.1 per cent or 333,812 additional jobs when compared with the previous quarter and 36 per cent or 125,837 additional jobs when compared to the third quarter of 2014.

According to the Employment Creation Survey for Q3 2015, which was posted on its website on Sunday,November 22, the increase in the number of jobs in the third quarter was driven mainly by informal sector jobs, which accounted for 90.2 per cent (428,690) of total jobs.

This was followed by formal sector jobs, which represented 8.8 per cent (41,672) of jobs in the quarter, while the public sector generated 4,818 jobs, representing 1.01 per cent of jobs in the quarter under review.

According to the statistical agency, the jobs generated in the informal sector in Q3 2015 which accounted for over 90 per cent of total jobs in Q3 were predominantly in rural agricultural activities.

It added that over 70 per cent of the informal sector jobs created in the period under review were related to rural agriculture due to the beginning of the farming season where rural and subsistence farmers become fully engaged on their farms.

It said: “The third quarter of the year coincides with the planting season in Nigeria and has historically recorded higher job numbers when compared to other quarters, as farmers employ more hands to assist on the farms. Also accounting for the increase in informal jobs in the third quarter, is the increase in the number of people previously not in labour force in the second quarter but now in the labour force and working informal jobs due to their inability to find white collar formal jobs.