Unemployment rate decreased in N Cape
WHILE the Northern Cape has recorded 14 000 job losses between the first quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017, it is the only province in South Africa to record a decrease in the official unemployment rate on a quarter-to-quarter basis.
This is according to a recent Quarterly Labour Force Survey, conducted by Statistics SA (Stats SA).
The survey indicated that the number of employed persons increased in seven of the nine provinces between the fourth quarter of 2016 (October to December) and the first quarter of 2017 (January to March).
The largest employment gains were observed in Gauteng (81 000), Mpumalanga (62 000) and Western Cape (21 000), while Limpopo and Eastern Cape recorded employment declines of 56 000 and 5 000 respectively over this period.
Compared to the first quarter of 2016, the largest increases in employment were observed in five of the nine provinces, with Gauteng (298 000), Eastern Cape (76 000) and Mpumalanga (57 000) recording the highest employment gains.
During the same period, employment losses were recorded in Free State (24 000) and Northern Cape (14 000).
On a quarter-to-quarter basis, the official unemployment rate increased by 1.2 percentage points, and increased by one percent yearon-year. The increase in unemployment rate was recorded in seven of the nine provinces, with the highest increase recorded in Eastern Cape (3.8 percent), Limpopo (2.3 percent) and KwaZulu-Natal (1.9 percent).
The Northern Cape was the only province that recorded a decrease in the official unemployment rate (1.3 percent).
The data revealed that South Africa’s jobless rate was now at a 14-year high, at a time when the country is in a technical recession.
The unemployment rate increased to 27.7 percent in the first quarter of 2017 from 26.5 percent in the previous three months, Stats SA said.
Unemployment, according to the expanded definition that includes people who have given up looking for employment, also climbed to 36.4 percent from 35.6 percent, Stats SA said.