Open AccessUNEMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA: DOES OKUN’S LAW MATTERS?
Author(s) -
Oluwaseyi Adedayo Adelowokan,
Adeteji Olusegun Оkutimiren
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
periodyk naukowy akademii polonijnej
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2543-8204
pISSN - 1895-9911
DOI - 10.23856/3203
Subject(s) - okun's law , unemployment , economics , unemployment rate , population , government (linguistics) , population growth , government expenditure , gross domestic product , sustainable growth rate , labour economics , macroeconomics , demographic economics , public finance , linguistics , philosophy , demography , finance , sociology
The situation in Nigeria is rapid population growth with high level of unemployment rate. The theoretical proposition of the Okun’s law suggests an indirect relationship existing between unemployment and output growth. This study tests the validity of Okun’s law by examining the impact of youth employment generation on sustainable growth in the Nigerian economy. We modeled real gross domestic product against unemployment rate, population growth, labour and government expenditure between 1986 and 2017. The empirical findings show that there is shortand longrun relationship existing between unemployment rate, population growth and output growth in Nigeria. Hence, study recommends that the activities by the government in promoting economic growth in the country should be geared towards promoting employment for the people in other sector.