After months of delay, the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday finally released the Labour Statistics Report for the third quarter of this year with the unemployment rate rising from 18.8 per cent in the third quarter of last year to 23.1 per cent.
The report which was posted on the website of the NBS stated that the number of persons in the labour force increased from 85.1 million in the third quarter of 2017 to 90.5 million in the third quarter of 2018.
It said the total number of people classified as unemployed increased from 17.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 to 20.9 million in the third quarter of 2018.
Out of this 20.9 million person classified as unemployed as of the third quarter of 2018, the bureau said 11.1 million did under 20 hours a week to be officially classified as employed while 9.7 million did absolutely nothing.
It reads in part, “The economically active or working-age population (15 – 64 years of age) increased from 111.1 million in Q3, 2017 to 115.5million in Q3, 2018.
“The number of persons in the labour force (i.e. people who are able and willing to work) increased from 75.94 million in Q3 2015 to 80.66 million in Q3 2016 to 85.1 million in Q3,2017 to 90.5million in Q3, 2018.
“The unemployment rate accordingly, increased from 18.8 per cent in Q3 2017 to 23.1 per cent in Q3, 2018.”
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