Employment Dynamics and Job Loss among Households in Nigeria: Pre COVID-19 and COVID-19 Periods

Abstract

This paper examined employment dynamics and job loss among households in Nigeria at pre Covid-19 and Covid-19 Periods. The Nigeria Covid-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (NLPS) was the secondary data used. And analysed using frequency counts, cross tabs and bar charts. At pre Covid-19 period, most households (27.2%) were employed in commerce sector, agricultural sector (23.8%), and personal services, education & health (22.3%). However, during Covid-19 period, almost half (48.7%) of the households, were engaged in agriculture sector and commerce sector (18.3%). During Covid-19, 35.3% of jobs were lost by Nigerian households. Agriculture engaged 200 households at pre Covid-19 period, and rose to 413 during Covid-19, leading to +51.6% change, implying its capability to absorb sudden shocks in households’ employment. Policies to enhance greater participation of households within agriculture sector will help to reduce shock. Federal Government of Nigeria should effectively execute Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan to achieve employment generation.