MAN adds 19,454 new jobs to Nigerian economy in 2016

Despite foreign exchange challenges that threatened to kill many industries in 2016, members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) managed to create 19,454 new jobs within the year, according to the association’s 2016 economic review.

The economic review shows that 9,393 new jobs were created in the first six months of 2016 while 10,061 new jobs were added in the second half of the year, indicating an increase of 668 jobs.

However, 16,808 jobs were lost in 2016 to foreign exchange crisis, the report shows.

“A total of 4,408 jobs were lost in the period under review as against 12,400 jobs lost in the preceding half, thereby indicating 7,992 decline over the period,” MAN says.

The report further shows that food, beverage and tobacco group accounts for most of the jobs created in the manufacturing sector in the last six months of the year, as it added 2,947 new jobs.

In the first half of the year, the domestic/industrial plastics and rubber group accounted for the largest proportion of jobs created in the sector within the period.

However, the textile, wearing, apparel, carpet, leather and leather products lost more workers than any other sector within the period, with a total of 4,818 or 38.8 percent of the entire jobs in the group lost.

ODINAKA ANUDU