The National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that no fewer
than 18,919 Nigerians lost their jobs in the nation’s public sector
between October 2015 and March 2016.
Although about 5,867 new public sector jobs were generated
between October and December 2015, the bureau said about 10,155 jobs were lost
during the period in the public sector of the federal, state and local
governments.
This translates to a negative employment generation figure
of -4,288.
Also, while about 5,726 jobs were created between January and
March 2016 in the public sector, the bureau said about 8,764 jobs were lost
during the period, with a negative employment generation figure of -3.038 for
the period.
The bureau, which reported a sharp decline of 84.1 per cent
in total employment against the figure in the last quarter of 2015, said only
about 79,469 jobs were generated in the economy in the first three months of
2016, against about 499,521 jobs created during the corresponding period of
2015.
The agency said in its quarterly job creation survey in
collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), that the figure was 83.1
per cent lower than the 389,605 jobs created in the corresponding period last
year.
“This sharp decline in employment generation in the first
quarter of 2016 is strongly correlated to the weakening economic output within
the period, where the Nigerian economy recorded a negative growth of -0.36 per
cent,” the statistics agency said.
An analysis of the jobs created for the quarter showed that
21,477 came from the formal sector, consisting formal professional services
with less than 10 employees.
The Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice (CENSOJ), Eze
Onyekpere, said declining employment figures in an economy in recession was not
surprising, as firms are closing up and reducing their workforce in the face of
declining Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and high inflation.
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