UNEMPLOYMENT AND SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ABIA STATE (A STUDY OF ISIALA-NGWA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA)

ABSTRACT The study focused on unemployment and socioeconomic development in Abia State. Unemployment has become a pandemic, eating away at the fabric of society, and the youths have resorted to harlotry, kidnapping, robbery, cybercrime, and other forms of social vice in a bid to elicit useful information that will aid analysis and decision-making. The objective of this study is to ascertain the impact of unemployment on the socio-economic development of Abia State. The problem of this study is unemployment as a hindrance to the socio-economic development of Abia State, etc. The hypotheses of this study are to determine whether or not unemployment affects the socio-economic development of Abia State. The population size was 100, and the sample size was 50. The questionnaire was used to collect the primary data needed for the research study, and it was analyzed by the means of frequency table and tested using chi-square [x]. The study found that unemployment affects the socio-economic development of Abia State. Unemployment contributes to crimes and social vices. The Abia State government's policies towards indigenous enterprises cause joblessness. The study recommended that the government should provide infrastructures for employment creation to eradicate crime and social vices like kidnapping, theft, etc., increase the standard of living of the people, and formulate and implement policies that will aid in the socio-economic development of Abia State.