A total of 1.1 million males in Ghana aged 15 years and above were rendered unemployed in the first and second quarter of 2022, the Ghana Statistical Service has disclosed.

According to the 2022 Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES), the development showed that “in terms of percentage, 9.4% of employed men in the first quarter were unemployed and in the second quarter an additional 15.7% outside of the labour force”.

On the regional front, the Upper East Region recorded the highest percentage of employed males in the first quarter but have now become unemployed in the second quarter of 2022.

This was however followed by the North East Region.

“In the Upper East Region, seven out of every ten (69.0%) males employed in the first quarter were no longer employed in the second quarter. And that is the highest rate in the country distantly followed by the North East Region (43.9%),” the GSS report said.

In terms of employment-related earnings, the GSS report noted: “mean hourly earnings for males in the second quarter were GH¢9.9, falling slightly from GH¢11.0 in the first quarter.”

Providing some figures on education, the Service said “the AHIES 2022 Q1 and Q2 Report estimates that 600,893 males 15 to 24 years were not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) in the second quarter, an increase of over 100,000 from the 463,260 recorded in the first quarter.”

The report further explained that about 3,335,604 males between the ages of 15 years and above were not literate with almost half a million (459,110) boys from 4 to 14 years.

The GSS said the rationale behind the figures was aimed at raising awareness as the world marked International Men’s Day on November 19 every year.

The theme for this year’s commemoration is dubbed; “Helping Men and Boys”.

MA/FNOQ

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