Youth unemployment high — GSS

A survey conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to assess the living standards of people living in the country has shown that unemployment among the youth (15 years and older) is high in urban areas compared to what pertains in rural areas.

The report showed that per the survey, unemployment in urban areas was 3.4 per cent compared to 1.6 per cent in rural areas; whereas in urban areas, unemployment is higher among females, accounting for 4.1per cent as against males of 3.2 per cent.

“The unemployment rate is higher among the age group 15-24 years (8.2%) compared with 2.2 per cent for 25-44 years and 0.8 per cent for 45-64 years,” a copy of the report made available to the GRAPHIC BUSINESS said.

It also said 50.9 per cent of persons 15 years and older are engaged in agriculture, forestry and fishing, followed by wholesale and retail trade (16.1%) while 47.4 per cent of employed persons are self-employed without employees.

The Ghana Living Standards Survey 6 (GLSS 6) was conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and collects information on the demographic characteristics of the population, health and fertility, household income, consumption and expenditure patterns.

Other areas it focuses on include prices of consumer items, household agricultural production, non-farm household enterprises, household asset ownership, employment and time use, housing and housing conditions of households and household financial services.

For the first to third cycles, data was collected from October 18, 2012 to February 6, 2013 from a total of 21,753 persons, made up of  10,811 males (49.7%) and 10,942 females (50.3%).

The fourth to sixth cycle data collection was from February 8, 2013 to May 25 2013, while a total of 21,554 persons were captured of which 10,486 were males (48.6%) and 11,068 females (51.4%).

By Jessica Acheampong/Graphic Business/Ghana