Business Briefs
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THE National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has said that the country’s economy added a total of 369,485 new jobs in the fourth quarter of 2014. According to the NBS, the job creation statistics for the fourth quarter released on Tuesday, April 21, showed an improvement over the 349,343 jobs added in the previous quarter.
Of the total employment generated in the period under review, the informal sector of the economy recorded the highest number of intakes with 227,072 jobs or 61.5 percent of the total figure, while the formal sector recorded 138,026 jobs or 37.7 percent as well as the public sector which accounted for 4,387 jobs or 1.2 percent of total jobs created.
According to the NBS, although the formal sector experienced a decrease of 7,438 or 5.1 percent from the 145,464 jobs recorded in the third quarter of 2014, the public sector also decreased by 1,348 or 23.5 percent jobs from the 5,735 jobs recorded in the previous quarter. The informal sector jobs, however, increased from the previous quarter with 28,928 jobs, representing 14.6 percent.
A breakdown of the job spread by economic sector indicated that the government’s education sector generated the most number of new jobs in the fourth quarter, with 54,729 jobs or 39.65 percent of the total, compared to third quarter in which manufacturing sector had the greatest jobs created with 54,446 jobs or 37.43 percent of the total. The manufacturing sector ranked the second most dominant employer of new labour in the period under review with 22.75 percent of all jobs, while the wholesale and retail trade sector was the third most dominant with 10,659 jobs or 7.72 percent of the new jobs total.
“The most commonly cited reason for hiring new staff was, ‘Business Expansion’, for which 63,635 new jobs or 46.10 per cent of the total were created. The second most cited reason was ‘new skill required’, 44.527 jobs or 32.26 percent of the total created was on the account of new skills required. The third most reported reason for hiring was to fill a position vacated by an employee. It was responsible for the hiring of 15,311 new positions or 11.09 percent of total new employment in the formal sector. The least common reason given for hiring new employees was ‘promoted former occupant of position’, which was cited for 211 or 0.15 percent of all new jobs.”
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NBC Issues Licences for Free Digital TV
THE National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has started the process of issuing licences for the provision of free view digital television content to be transmitted to Nigerian households. Awwalu Salihu, director of public affairs, NBC, in a statement, said the regulatory agency, after a detailed assessment of the current television market, observed serious gaps in the content available to serve the social and economic needs of Nigerians.
It, therefore, invited prospective service providers to submit proposals for meeting the gaps as a preliminary step towards applying for licences. The regulatory agency categorised free television, FTV digital television into several genres, including general entertainment, kids, lifestyle, sports, movies/soaps/sitcoms, music, documentaries and factual/news. It stressed that the channels would strictly comply with the programming mandates of the commission as well as the Nigerian Broadcasting Code and other conditions to be set out in the licences to be granted to successful applicants.
“In keeping with the commission’s laid down procedure, successful applicants shall be invited to formally apply for licences to provide channel content in accordance with the National Broadcasting Act, the Nigeria Broadcasting Code and the Digital Terrestrial Television Regulations,” he said.
Salihu said that the proposals would be considered in a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory selection process measured against high quality domestic and international content channel appeal across a range of demographics.
— May 4, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT
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Tags: Awwalu Salihu Business Expansion Digital Terrestrial Television Regulations documentaries Free Digital TV lifestyle movies music National Broadcasting Act National Broadcasting Commission National Bureau of Statistics NBC NBS new skill required Nigerian Broadcasting Code sports
