Stabilization policy, Unemployment Crises and Economic Growth in Nigeria

Since the early eighties, the urban unemployment has been regarded as one of the most challenging economic problems facing the Nigerian policy makers. This study however examined the implication of the urban unemployment crisis on economic growth in Nigeria. The choice is to enable us determine the nexus among stabilization policy, unemployment crisis and growth. The paper employed standard econometric method, Ordinary Least Square multiple regression, (OLS) to determine the relationship between urban unemployment crisis and economic growth in Nigeria. Most important for the objectives of this paper, the estimated coefficients support the idea that urban unemployment crisis had a large negative significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria during the period under review. The finding is in consonance with a prori expectations. The results of the finding show that the past values of unemployment crisis could be used to predict the future behaviour of economic growth in Nigeria. The econometric results suggested the need for the government to embark on direct measures capable of creating jobs through industrialization and mechanization of agriculture. It also recommended that programmes of integrated vocational training and re-orientation of economic activity towards self employment and self-reliance should be encouraged in order to minimize the unemployment crisis