As we approach 30 days to December, unemployment and job creation remains a major issue in the upcoming Election. While the national Centre for Civic Education (NCCE) places it as the 2nd most important issue for voters, Afrobarometer in its latest round 10 survey results has placed unemployment at the pinnacle of issues of concern to the Ghanaian. It is thus not surprising that the political messaging of the two leading parties has swirled heavily around the issues of unemployment. While the NDC has pivoted its campaign on the proposed 24-hour economy which it says is the panacea to the ever-swelling unemployment canker, the NPP manifesto, Bold Solutions for Jobs and Business emphasize the significant of job creation promises in this election.
But while the Vice President and Presidential candidate of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia last Sunday met some youth of the country to woo them on his creation plans, many have challenged the veracity of some job creation he touts to have been achieved in the past 7 year.
One of such is Deputy National Communication Officer of the NDC, Malik Basintale. Speaking on State of Affairs with Lantam Papanko on GHOne TV, Malik Basintale while challenging the Vice President’s figures claims unemployment numbers in the country has swelled from 800,000 in 2016 to 1.6 to 1.8 million currently.
“When the NDC was leaving government in 2016, the Number of people that were unemployed where barely 800,000. Unemployment under the NDC was 7%. Bawumia claims that they have created 2.6million jobs. If indeed what Bawumia had said was true, then today we should have been in the negative unemployment in the country. Today the number of unemployed people in the country stands at 1.6 million to 1.8m raising the bar to 14.7%.”, he said.
So two claims; one, “When the NDC was leaving government in 2016, the Number of people that were unemployed where barely 800,000. Unemployment under the NDC was 7%.”
And secondly, “Today the number of unemployed people in the country stands at 1.6 million to 1.8m raising the bar to 14.7%.”
How factual are these claims. Let’s begin with the present. The most recent available employment data from the Ghana Statistical Service is from the 2023 Quarter 3 release of the Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHEIS) released on the 21st February this year.
On page 2 of the document that show a trend analysis of employment and unemployment figures between the first and third quarter of 2023, the statistical service disclosed that some 1.69 million Ghanaians were unemployed at the beginning of the year, with the figure hitting 1.85 million by end of 3rd quarter.
Page 6 of the report further adds that average unemployment rate for that period (First three quarters of 2023) was 14.7%.
Considering, the GSS has not released any new data on unemployment and the figures and report above are the most recent, these could be assumed to be the status quo and thus the claims about the country’s unemployment rate hovering at 14.7% and that some 1.8 million Ghanaians are unemployed is factual.
But did the NDC exit power in 2016 with an unemployment rate of 7% and some 800,000 persons unemployed? This is what the data tells us.
The AHEIS that gives quarterly labour statistics was unfortunately launched in 2022 hence would not be able to provide data needed in 2016. Government through the GSS has mainly relied on either the population and housing census (done one each decade) and the periodical Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS) (round 8 currently active). Fortunately, the last Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 7), was conducted at the beginning of October 2016 hence could provide an accurate estimate on the country’s unemployment figures between 2016 and 2017 when the NDC left power. On page XIX of the executive summary of the GLSS 7, overall unemployment for the country then was pegged at 8.4% with 1,027,594 person estimated to be unemployed.
Based on these two reports, while the claims by Malik Basintale that the country’s unemployment rate now stands at 14.7% with 1.8 million unemployed persons are true, documents and reports do not support his assertions on the other hand that the NDC left government with an unemployment figure of just 7% and barely 800,000 unemployed persons. That claim is factually untrue.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Edem Kojo
