Unemployment in Africa’s largest economy surged to the second highest on a global list of countries monitored by Bloomberg.
The jobless rate in Nigeria rose to 33.3% in the three months through December, according to a report published by National Bureau of Statistics on its website Monday.
That’s up from 27.1% in the second quarter of 2020, the last period for which the agency released labor-force statistics.
A third of the 69.7 million-strong labor force in Africa’s most-populous nation either did nothing or worked for less than 20 hours a week, making them unemployed, according to the Nigerian definition.
Another 15.9 million worked less than 40 hours a week, making them underemployed.
Usman Umar reports from Abuja.