The Nigerian economy created 1.163 million jobs during the 2013 fiscal year, the National Bureau of Statistics has said.
The jobs, according to the bureau in its latest job creation survey result released on Monday, were created in the formal, informal and public sectors of the economy.
A breakdown of the figure showed that 431,021 jobs were created in the first quarter of 2013.
For the second quarter, the NBS said 221,054 jobs were created, while the figure increased in the third and fourth quarters to 245,989 and 265,702, respectively.
Addressing journalists on Monday in Abuja on the outcome of the exercise, the Statistician General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer, NBS, Dr. Yemi Kale, said the jobs were as a result of business expansion, seasonal growth and the need to attract new skills.
“These reasons for employment generation point to a thriving business environment in the country and give further credence to the economic growth indicators,” he said
Kale explained that contrary to views expressed in some quarters that jobs were not being generated, many jobs had been created in the economy.
He said in order to feel the impact, the number of jobs created had to surpass significantly the number being demanded.
Kale said, “Job creation is, no doubt, a pressing topic in Nigeria as stakeholders struggle with the fact that despite several years of impressive annual growth rates, unemployment and under employment remain relatively high.
“This doesn’t mean that jobs are not being created. The question is whether the jobs being created are enough to meet the demand for jobs, which amount to an average of 1.8 million every year. Even if jobs being created matched jobs being demanded, there is still the problem of existing pool of millions unemployed.
“Thus, for any meaningful impact on jobs created, the number of jobs created has to surpass significantly the jobs demanded otherwise the impact of the jobs being created will not be visibly felt and this will lead to the understandable suggestion that no jobs are really being created.”
The NBS boss noted that the result of the job creation survey exercise conducted by the bureau revealed that the informal sector continued to lead the way in new employment generated in the economy.
For instance, he said in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2013, the informal sector contributed over 54 per cent of total employment generated, making it the highest employer of labour in the economy.
Kale said, “A breakdown of the jobs created in the second quarter indicates that 80,412 jobs were created in the formal sector; 112,567 jobs in the informal sector and 28,075 in the public sector.
“The formal sector contributed 76,385 jobs to the total jobs generated in the third quarter of 2013, while the informal and public sectors generated 140,673 and 28,931 jobs, respectively.”
Now all those that wanted to crucify Okonjo-Iweala when earlier announced this same job creation figures (rounded up to 1.2 million only) should bury their heads in shame!