Activities in the manufacturing sector remained at levels recorded in 2016Q3. Specifically, manufacturing capacity utilization (a measure of potential manufacturing output that is actually realized) remained at 48.46 percent in 2016Q4 below average. During the quarter, structural bottlenecks such as epileptic power supply (average of 2, 548 Megawatts) in addition to forex constraints, hampered manufacturing activities. As such, high cost of raw materials and cost of production subdued activities in the short term. Recent efforts by the monetary authority to increase forex access to the manufacturing sector as well as improvement in gas supply and electricity generation would help minimize production costs and enhance production process.

According to figures released by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, employment growth lagged during the recession period, and worsened unemployment/underemployment rates few quarters after. Specifically, unemployment rate rose to 18.8 percent in 2017Q31, up from 16.2 percent in previous quarter (the recession-exit quarter) and 13.9 percent in corresponding quarter. Disaggregated figures reveal that the number of unemployed and underemployed persons in the labour force increased by 17 percent and 2 percent respectively, to 15.9 million and 18.0 million in 2017Q3, majority of which are young persons within ages 15-34. 

Inflation rate rose slightly to 9.4 percent in November 2015 from 9.3 percent in the previous month. This rise is attributed to price increase in Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, and Transportation costs which extends from shortages of petrol across the country. The food sub-index grew by 0.2 percentage points to 10. 1 percent while, the Core sub-index declined by 0.2 percentage points to 8.7 percent within the period. The inflationary up-tick points to the need to curtail the rising food prices by increasing the supply of petrol in the country.