The harsh economic situation currently facing the country may have forced about 3.67 million Nigerians into the unemployment market within a one-year period covering October 2015 to September 2016, figures obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics have revealed.
According to an analysis of the unemployment report for the period, which was obtained by Punch correspondent in Abuja, the number of unemployed Nigerians rose from 7.51 million in the beginning of the October 2015 to 11.19 million at the end of September 2016.
The unemployment report for the fourth quarter of last year covering October to December 2016, which is still being prepared by the NBS, is due for release on March 29 based on the data release calendar of the bureau.
The report added that while the number of those employed rose from 55.21 million in the beginning of the fourth quarter to 69.47 million as of the end of September, the labour force population rose from 75.94 million to 80.66 million.
A breakdown of the 3.67 million unemployed Nigerians showed that about 522,000 people became jobless within the fourth quarter of 2015; while 1.44 million people joined the labour force in the first quarter of 2016.
For the second and third quarters of 2016, further analysis of the unemployment report of the NBS showed that about 1.16 million and 550,000 people entered the labour market in search of jobs.
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