
By Alex C
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) job creation report for Q2 – Q4 2014 for Nigeria reveal that the country’s economy generated 222,163 jobs in the Q2 2013, 246,138 jobs in the Q3, and 267,740 jobs in the Q4 2013.
A breakdown of jobs created in the Q2 indicates that 80,412 jobs were created in the formal sector, 112, 567 jobs were generated in the informal sector, and 29,184 in the public sector. The formal sector contributed 76,385 jobs to the total jobs generated in the Q3 2013 while the informal and public sectors generated 140,673 and 29,080 jobs respectively, according to the NBS report.
Of the total 267,740 jobs created in the final quarter of 2013, the formal sector contributed 101,597, while the informal and public sectors created 143,278 and 22,865 jobs respectively.
This shows a total of 1,167,062 jobs for the full year 2013, made up of 432,720 jobs (0.37%) in the formal sector, 628,845 jobs (53.6%) in the informal sector, and 105,497 (9.4%) jobs in the public sector.
Sectoral overview reveal that the Education sector contributed the highest number of jobs created in Nigeria in the Q4 2013 with 1.36 million jobs, representing 48.92 percent of the 2.78 million total jobs created.
This was followed by the manufacturing sector with 0.4384 million, which is 15.77 percent of the total 2.78 million jobs created. The lowest sector with job creation potentials include mining and quarrying with 0.135 million jobs (0.48%) of the 2.78 million jobs created.
Currently, the nation’s economy is experiencing growth with minimal job creation as growth rate of the labour force exceeds the employment opportunities. However, a huge chunk of the unemployed are secondary school leavers and graduates of higher institution.
The NBS data revealed the need to accelerate reforms in areas with enormous potentials of creating lots of jobs. Diversification of the country’s economy through the agriculture sector, considered the largest employer of labour, is believed to improve the lives and incomes of millions of farmers residing in the rural areas.
With stability in the power sector critical in easing transformation of farm input into finished goods, Nigerians believe that this will enhance the manufacturing sector whose capacities has been hampered by epileptic power supply.
While the passage of the stalled Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) would help boost investments and job creation in the oil and gas sector, the reduction in corruption is believed to improve the business climate and lower the clearing times at the ports, which in turn will boost the creation of job opportunities.
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