Climate shocks and the labour market in sub-Saharan Africa: Effects on youth employment and the reallocation of labour supply

Faced with major socio-economic challenges, high unemployment and poverty levels and slow economic growth, sub-Saharan Africa is vulnerable to climate change. We examine the effects of climate shocks on youth employment and employment in agriculture, manufacturing and services. We apply the difference-in-differences method to panel data and find that rising temperatures cause job losses among young people and in the agricultural sector. We also find that high temperatures drive the reallocation of labour from agriculture towards manufacturing and services.