The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says a total of 23.18 million Nigerians were unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2020.
According to the report released by NBS on Monday, Imo state recorded the highest rate of unemployment with 56.64%.
The new report means 33.3 per cent of the labour force in Nigeria were unemployed in Q4 2020, from 27.1 per cent in second quarter 2020.
The report read, “In the case of unemployment by state, Imo state recorded the highest rate of unemployment with 56.64%. This was followed by Adamawa with 54.89% and Cross River state with 53.65%. The states with the lowest rates were Osun, Benue and Zamfara states with 11.65%, 11.98% and 12.99% respectively. In the case of underemployment, Benue state recorded the highest rate with 43.52%, followed by Zamfara and Jigawa states with 41.73% and 41.29% respectively.
“Combining both unemployment and underemployment, the state that recorded the highest rate was Imo with 82.5% followed by Jigawa with 80%. Ogun and Sokoto states recorded the lowest of the combined rates, 26.2% and 33.7% respectively.”
