Joblessness hits 13-year high after slight uptick
SOUTH Africa’s unemployment rate rose to a 13-year high after ticking up slightly to 32.6 percent in the first quarter of this year, from 32.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.
Data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday showed that the official unemployment rate increased by 0.1 of a percentage point. This was the highest unemployment rate since 2008 during the global financial crisis.
StatsSA said the number of unemployed people increased by 8 000 to 7.2 million, while employment fell by 28 000 to 15 million during the period.
The largest employment decreases in the first quarter were in private households, 70 000, followed by the informal sector, 19 000, and the agricultural sector, 18 000. Employment increased only in the formal sector (79 000).
The official unemployment rate among youth (15 to 34 years) was 46.3 percent in the first quarter, with the rate remaining at 9.3 percent among university graduates.
The official unemployment rate increased in six of the nine provinces, with the largest increase in Limpopo (up 5.8 percentage points), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (3.6 percentage points), Eastern Cape (3.3 percentage points), Gauteng (3 percentage points) and Western Cape (2.8 percentage points).
The official unemployment rate decreased in Northern Cape (3.6 percentage points), Free State (2.8 percentage points) and North West (1 percentage point).
StatsSA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey also showed that the labour force decreased by 20 000 to 22.2 million, as some industries created jobs while others lost jobs.
The number of discouraged work-seekers increased by 201 000 (6.9 percent), and the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 38 000 (0.3 percent) between the two quarters, resulting in a net increase of 164 000 in the not economically active population.
StatsSA said the unemployment rate, according to the expanded definition of unemployment, increased by 0.6 of a percentage point to 43.2 percent, the highest it has been.