Designing a Framework for Employment-Growth Targeting in Nigeria

Abstract

Unemployment in Nigeria has assumed disturbing proportions despite fifteen years of sustained economic growth outcomes between 2000 and 2014. This needs very urgent attention from policy makers since the problem has further resulted in other social vices like: armed robbery, kidnapping, political thuggery, pipe-line vandalisation, and social unrest. Unfortunately, policy makers have approached the deep-rooted problems with only tactical and superficial methods. There has been no serious attempt to target employment based on the economic fundamentals; and, the interdependencies and the interconnectedness of the various sectors and the working of the economy. Using Johansen co-integration, and applying Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) regression to time series sectoral economic data of Gross Value Added (GVA), employment, interest rate, wage rate, and inflation rate, collected from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) this study constructed a framework that policy makers can use to target growth and employment simultaneously.