Unemployment rate in Ghana reaches 14.7% – Ghana Statistical Service reveals

The labor force saw an influx of about 440,000 individuals between the first and third quarters of 2023, with more than 60.0 percent of them securing employment.

Interestingly, throughout both 2022 and 2023, more females than males found employment, with the gender difference in employment figures averaging around 600,000 in 2022 and 900,000 in 2023.

While the number of employed individuals in urban areas remained relatively constant in the first three quarters of 2023, rural areas experienced a continuous increase in employment for five consecutive quarters from the second quarter of 2022.

However, there was a decline in rural employment in the third quarter of 2023. The disparity in unemployment rates between urban and rural areas consistently widened in the first three quarters of 2023, with the urban unemployment rate being almost twice that of rural areas in the second and third quarters of 2023.

The overall average unemployment rate for the first three quarters of 2023 stood at 14.7 percent, with females consistently experiencing a higher rate than males. The gender gap in unemployment widened due to a significant increase in the unemployment rate among females from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023.

Although the labor force participation rate exhibited a notable increase between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, it remained stable throughout the first three quarters of 2023. Concurrently, the labor market’s ability to absorb individuals seeking employment, as indicated by the absorption rate, consistently improved from the second quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2023.