BEVERLY HILLS, April 13, (THEWILL) – The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday said the share of Nigerians working in February 2021 dipped by 2 percent from 72 percent in September 2020.
According to the Bureau, Nigerians who were working in February 2021 was only slightly lower than the share working in September 2020, and higher than the share working in January/ February 2019.
NBS recalled that in previous years, the share of people working fell significantly between the post-planting season (around July to September) and the post-harvest season (around January to March).
“Yet in February 2021, 70 percent of working-age Nigerians (those aged 15-64 years) were working, only a little below the share (72 percent) observed in September 2020, and higher than the share observed in January/February 2019 (64 percent),” it said.
According to the data, the share of people working in February 2021 was similar in urban and rural areas.
NBS noted the share of those working in February 2021 was higher than the pre-pandemic period because households reinforced their labour supply to meet up with the adverse effects of the pandemic.
“The fact that the share of Nigerians working in February 2021 is higher than what was observed before the pandemic may be due to ‘an added worker’ effect where households boost their overall labor supply to cope with negative economic shocks,” it stated.
“The share of working-age Nigerians who were working in February 2021 (70 percent) was only slightly lower than the share observed in September 2020 (72 percent), and much higher than the share observed in January/February 2019 (64 percent); this heightened labor supply was driven especially by women.
“The share of workers engaged in commerce was higher in February 2021 (37 percent of workers) than in September 2020 (26 percent of workers) and in January/ February 2019 (27 percent of workers); this shift towards commerce was also concentrated among women.
“The share of Nigerians deploying safe practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19 –including hand-washing and mask wearing– recovered in February 2021 compared to November 2020 following the second wave of COVID-19 cases in December 2020 and January 2021,” it added.
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