The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria recorded 85 per cent employment in the first half of 2014. This is contained in a statement issued by the Statistician General of the Federation, Dr Yemi Kale, in Abuja.
The statistician-general said the managerial, professional and technical cadre recorded 1,085,071 employees, representing 34.25 per cent of the total number in the first quarter.
He said the figure increased to 1,091,096 employees, representing 34.62 per cent of the total in the second quarter.
Kale said that those employed as operatives were 943,652, representing 29.78 per cent of the total employed in first quarter and 930,507, representing 29.53 per cent in second quarter. He added that operative and clerical and related office workers made up of 679,173, representing 21.43 per cent in first quarter, a slightly lesser than 672,714 or 21.35 per cent recorded in second quarter.
“By economic activity, education (private) was the greatest employer in the formal sector, with1, 573,082 employees; it made up 49.64 per cent of the total employed in the first quarter. It increased marginally by 0.43 per cent or 6,771 employees in the second quarter to reach 1,579,854 or 50.13 per cent of the total.’’ He said that the manufacturing sector recorded 503,023 or 15.87 per cent of total formal employment.
According to him, the sector declined by 2.64 per cent to employ 489,273 or 15.54 per cent of the total employed in the formal sector in second quarter.
“The main driver of the overall decline in formal employment in the second quarter came from the professional, scientific and technical services.
“In these sectors, the 107,986 workers or 3.41per cent of the total were employed in the first quarter.
“But they declined by 49.35 per cent to 54,697 or 1.74 per cent of the total employed in the second quarter. The greatest was Administrative and Support Services, which increased by 34.85 per cent from the 16,592 employees recorded in the first quarter to 73,145 in the second.’’
Kale said, “in both the first and second quarter of 2014, over 85 per cent of employment was made up of the three cadres of managerial, professional, technical, clerical and related office workers.
