SA sheds 2.2m jobs in the second quarter

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa shed 2.2 million jobs during the second quarter, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

While the employment figures reflected the largest decline in employment between the second and first quarter since 2008, Stats SA on Tuesday said unemployment fell substantially as well, decreasing by 2.8 million to 4.3 million. The official employment rate is now 23.3 percent, compared to the first quarter’s 30.1 percent.

Peter Attard Montalto, economist at Intellidex said that it is best to rely on the expanded definition of unemployment - which would see the rate between 42.6 percent and 52.7 percent, which is more realistic.

The expanded definition includes persons who were not employed when surveyed and were available to work but did not look for work either because they are discouraged from looking for work or did not look for work for other reasons other than discouragement.

Weighing in on the latest statistics, chief economist at the Bureau for Economic Research Hugo Pienaar explained that while the number of employed people declined by 2.2 million, the size of the labour force declined by much more - that is by five million. “This is why the unemployment rate came down.” As to why the labour force declined, Pienaar explained that during the hard lockdown in April, people were not allowed to leave their homes unless they were considered essential workers or to buy food. – FIN24.