Employment in the country increased by about 333,000 between the first and third quarters of 2025, signalling steady job growth, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has said.
Across the first three quarters of the year, more than 15 million persons constituted the labour force, with an employment rate of 87 per cent recorded consistently in each quarter.
The Government Statistician, Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, disclosed this in Accra yesterday when he released the Quarterly Labour Force Statistics for the third quarter of 2025.
“More than 300,000 additional people were employed compared with the first quarter,” Dr. Iddrisu stated, noting that overall labour market participation remained strong, with 74.5 per cent of the working-age population actively engaged in the labour market.
He explained that over 63 per cent of the working-age population (15 years and older) was employed across the three quarters under review.
Dr. Iddrisu said the labour statistics showed persistent gender disparities, with female employment consistently higher than male employment, indicating that over 7.2 million females were employed across the period compared with about six million males.
“Spatial differences were also evident, as urban areas continued to record higher employment levels than rural areas. The widest gap was observed in the second quarter, when employment in urban areas exceeded rural areas by approximately 1.49 million persons,” he stated.
Despite the increase in employment, Dr. Iddrisu said the unemployment rate rose to 13 per cent in the third quarter of 2025, up from 12.6 per cent in the second quarter, making it the highest rate recorded so far this year.
He said on average, unemployment stood at 12.8 per cent across the first three quarters, an improvement from the 13.6 per cent recorded in 2024.
He attributed the higher unemployment levels largely to urban areas, where competition for formal sector jobs remained intense.
Dr. Iddrisu said regions such as Greater Accra, Central, Ashanti and Western recorded unemployment rates above the national average, while Oti, Upper West, Bono East and Upper East posted lower-than-average figures.
The Government Statistician said the proportion of young people aged 15–24 years who were Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) stood at 21.5 per cent in the third quarter, while 19.5 per cent of those aged 15–35 years fell into the same category.
He said there were low prevalence of night work, with about 98 per cent of workers not engaged in night shifts.
However, Dr. Iddrisu said interest in shift-based work was growing, reflecting potential support for the proposed 24-hour economy policy.
The Government Statistician explained that employed persons not currently engaged in shift work, 46.5 per cent expressed interest in such arrangements in the third quarter and interest was highest among men (53.6 per cent) and rural workers (51.7 per cent), compared with 45.4 per cent of women and 44.1 per cent of urban workers.
Dr. Iddrisu called on government to prioritise youth employment pathways by expanding Technical and Vocational Education, Apprenticeships, Digital Skills Training, and school-to-work transition programmes, particularly for young people classified as NEET.
He urged the private sector to expand training and internship opportunities and encouraged households to invest in skills development, stressing that aligning skills with labour market demand was key to improving job quality and reducing unemployment.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE & PRINCE FRIMPONG ADDO
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