SA's official unemployment rate hits 32.1%
Unemployment increased to 32.1% in the fourth quarter, up from 31.9% in the previous quarter.
FILE: Job seekers wait on the side of a road holding placards showing their specialisation in Johannesburg, South Africa. Picture: MUJAHID SAFODIEN /AFP
JOHANNESBURG - The country’s official unemployment rate has breached the 32% mark again following the recent job losses in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Unemployment increased to 32.1% in the fourth quarter, up from 31.9% in the previous quarter.
Stats SA released the Quarterly Labour Force Survey on Tuesday.
[🧵]The official #unemployment rate stands at 32,1 %, an increase of 0,2 of a percentage point in Q4:2023 compared to Q3:2023.
— Stats SA (@StatsSA) February 20, 2024
Read more here: https://t.co/6a1YXpHL66#StatsSA pic.twitter.com/Dhqkq4vVKN
Stats SA said that five industries contributed to job losses in the fourth quarter.
Community and social services shed the most, with more than 170,000 people out of a job during the same period.
Manufacturing was also down but not nearly as much as construction, agriculture and trade.
This means in the economically active population, 7.9 million people are jobless.
That number is almost double for the expanded unemployment rate, which includes discouraged jobseekers.
Stats SA said that the fourth quarter results showed that the youth remained vulnerable in the labour market.