Abstract
The Nigerian economy was characterised with high levels of unemployment during the periods of substantial growth between 1981 and 2014. Various economists described the growth regime as “jobless”. Sectoral differences were, also, observed with regard to their job absorptive capacities. Time series secondary data covering 1981 to 2014 on the rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and sectoral Gross Value Added (GVA) at 2010 constant basic prices, employment, wage rate, inflation rate and interest rate were collected from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The variables were extracted from statutory publications of the institutions, collated and summarised into a table of data. The unit root test was carried out to test for stationarity of variables. The data was analysed using VECM at α 0.05. The result shows that wage rate, inflation rate, and interest rate all affected employment negatively across sectors. Gross Value added affected employment positively in the non-agricultural sectors, but negatively in the agricultural sectors. Inter-sectoral linkages and dependences also peculiarly affected job creation positively or negatively.
Highlights
One of the major socio-economic challenges facing Nigeria today is very high and rising unemployment that seems to defy all the policies devised by government to address the malaise
Time series secondary data covering 1981 to 2014 on the rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and sectoral Gross Value Added (GVA) at 2010 constant basic prices, employment, wage rate, inflation rate and interest rate were collected from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
It is against this back-drop that it was expected that the growth regime of 1981 to 2014 should have helped to reduce unemployment by generating a more than commensurate employment
Summary
Economists have postulated in literature that economic growth generates employment. It is against this back-drop that it was expected that the growth regime of 1981 to 2014 should have helped to reduce unemployment by generating a more than commensurate employment. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (2015) the rate of unemployment was 8.2 per cent by the end of the second quarter of 2015, despite the growth performance of the preceding years. The situation, which has further deteriorated due to subsequent economic decline, was recently accentuated by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, as unemployment rose to a record high of 27 per cent by the second quarter of 2020 (FGN, 2017; FGN, 2020; and, NBS, 2020)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
