Factors Affecting Sectoral Employment in Nigeria during the Period of Growth (1981-2014)

Abstract

The Nigerian economy was characterised with high levels of unemployment during the periods of substantial growth between 1981 and 2014. Various economists described the growth regime as “jobless”. Sectoral differences were, also, observed with regard to their job absorptive capacities. Time series secondary data covering 1981 to 2014 on the rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and sectoral Gross Value Added (GVA) at 2010 constant basic prices, employment, wage rate, inflation rate and interest rate were collected from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The variables were extracted from statutory publications of the institutions, collated and summarised into a table of data. The unit root test was carried out to test for stationarity of variables. The data was analysed using VECM at α 0.05. The result shows that wage rate, inflation rate, and interest rate all affected employment negatively across sectors. Gross Value added affected employment positively in the non-agricultural sectors, but negatively in the agricultural sectors. Inter-sectoral linkages and dependences also peculiarly affected job creation positively or negatively.