By Omoh Gabriel

The National Bureau of Statistics yesterday said that a total of 4,226 jobs were created in the last quarter of 2014.

The Bureau in its survey released yesterday said that the jobs were collated from formal establishments in 18 economic sectors that were surveyed. It said that one man business dominated the job creation with 2,725 establishments.

The survey report said “As indicated in the summary finding earlier in the report, the formal sector of the economy generated 138,026 new jobs in the 4th quarter of 2014. Analysing these new jobs by cadres, the operatives cadre recorded the highest number of jobs in the 4th quarter, rising from 49,246 employees in the previous quarter to 51,100 in fourth quarter of 2014, indicating an increase by 1,854 new employees or 3.76 per cent. The Managerial Professional and Technical Cadre followed with 32,974 new jobs or 23.89 per cent of the total jobs generated in the formal sector, showing decline in jobs created of 5,707 or 14.75 per cent jobs from the preceding quarter.

“The Clerical and Related Office Workers cadre remained third, with 27,169 jobs or 19.68 per cent of the total. The cadre that recorded the greatest increase in jobs created between third and fourth quarters was the ‘other cadre’, which went from 3,041 new jobs in third quarter to 8,589 new jobs in the fourth quarter.

“A breakdown of the new jobs by economic sector shows that the Education sector generated the most number of new jobs in the fourth quarter of 2014, with 54,729 Jobs or 39,65 per cent of the total, compared to third quarter 2014, in which manufacturing sector had the greatest Jobs created with 54,446 Jobs or 37.43 per cent of the total.

Manufacturing sector ranked the second most dominant employer of new labour in quarter four, with 31.401 or 22.75 per cent of all Jobs. The Wholesale and Retail Trade sector was the third most dominant, with 10,659 Jobs or 7.72 per cent of the new Jobs total.

“The majority of new jobs created in the formal sector belong to the 25 – 35 age group, with 65,683 new jobs or 47.58 per cent of the total jobs created in fourth quarter of 2014. This indicated a decline of 9,163 or 12.24 per cent from third quarter 2014. Similarly, the second largest age group, 36-44, provided 39,244 new employees or 28.43% of the total in the fourth quarter, showing an increase of 10,604 or 37.02 per cent when compared to Q3. Operatives in the age-group 36-44 had the highest number of new employees, with 24,936 or 18.06 per cent of the total new jobs. For the age-group 25-35, Managerial Professional and Technical Workers had the most number of new employees with 21,141 or 15.32 per cent in fourth quarter”.

It said “By legal ownership classification, establishments owned by Sole Proprietors, which is defined as a business entity owned and run by one person without any legal distinction between the owner and the business, dominated with 2,725 establishments or 64.48 per cent of the fourth quarter, 2014 total. The survey it said showed a marginal increase of 2.48 per cent points in the last quarter of 2014, when compared to 62.00 per cent share held in the third quarter of 2014.

“The Sole Proprietorship maintained dominance in all other sectors except in Construction; Transportation and Storage; Finance and Insurance sectors.

The second most dominant type of legal ownership status was ‘Private Limited Liability Company’, defined as a hybrid type of business entity used in many jurisdictions in which the business itself is liable for its debts.