Unemployment Rate In South Africa

Sa Unemployment Rate Falls To 345%

• South Africa’s official unemployment rate declined to 34.5% in the first quarter of 2022.
• According to the latest data, an estimated 370 000 jobs were gained between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.
• There is concern about the quality of employment data in SA, which has been collected via telephone since 2020. The latest quarterly numbers primarily used face-to-face interviews though.

The official unemployment rate retreated from a record high of 35.3% in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 34.5% in the first quarter of 2022, Statistics SA reported on Monday.

For the second quarter in a row, the expanded unemployment rate – which includes discouraged work seekers who have given up looking for work declined. It fell from 46.2% to 45.5%.

According to the latest data, an estimated 370 000 jobs were gained between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. The biggest job gains were recorded in community and social services, manufacturing and trade, while there were job losses in private households, finance, construction and agriculture.

Unemployment was highest among those aged 15 to 24 years and 25 to 34 years .

Some 3.8 million out of 10.2 million people aged 15 to 24 years were not in employment, education or training . The overall NEET rate increased by 4.6 percentage points in the past year.

How reliable is the unemployment rate?

READ | SA’s unemployment stats could be wrong, say experts

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Unemployment In South Africa Are Poor Public Policies To Blame

One in three South Africans is looking for a job. This is according to Statistics South Africas most recent quarterly labour force survey, which notes that unemployment in the country has hit a new record high of 34.4%. And its not about to get any better, given the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the unrest in the country earlier this year.

The pandemic and unrest are not the only forces at play, however. South Africas poor record of developing and implementing sound public policies is an equally, if not more significant, contributing factor. More often than not, public policy tends to be influenced by ideological considerations, rather than scientific and economic evidence. This is despite government efforts to institutionalise processes such as the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment system, which is designed to ensure that policies are rational, implementable, and take the costs and benefits for all affected parties into account.

Yet, the government intends to introduce new policies that create more regulatory barriers for industries that should rather be leveraged to assist the government in achieving its goals of both creating more employment opportunities for those who need it most as well as lessening the burden on South Africas health infrastructure, which has taken a toll during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One such industry is the nascent vapour products industry.

South Africa’s Unemployment Rate Dips To 329% In Q3

Statistics South Africa said the number of unemployed people totalled 7.725mln people in the July-September period, compared with 7.994mln people in the previous three months

PRETORIA – South Africa’s official unemployment rate fell to 32.9% in the third quarter of 2022 from 33.9% in the second quarter, the statistics agency said on Tuesday.

Statistics South Africa said the number of unemployed people totalled 7.725 million people in the July-September period, compared with 7.994 million people in the previous three months.

According to an expanded definition of unemployment that includes those discouraged from seeking work, 43.1% were without work in the third quarter, from 44.1% in the second quarter.

South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the United Nation’s International Labour Organisation.

The country recorded an unemployment rate of 35.3% in the fourth quarter of 2021, the highest since the quarterly labour force survey began in 2008.

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Absolute Numbers Versus Rates

Derek Yu, a senior lecturer at the University of the Western Capes faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and part-time researcher at the University of Cape Towns Development Policy Research Unit, told Africa Check that its important to take both the absolute employment numbers and the rates into consideration.

Commentators must always remember not to get confused between numbers and rates. It is possible that even if employment numbers increased, unemployment numbers and even unemployment rates could still increase at the same time, he said

Buwembo also stressed this point: Ratios are better to look at than the absolute figures.

Example: South Africas ruling African National Congress claimed in its 2014 election manifesto that he economy regained the 1-million jobs lost as the results of the 2008 global recession

But the absolute figures do not provide the full picture. While absolute employment numbers had returned to pre-recession levels, the unemployment rate was higher than it was before the recession. The narrow unemployment rate increased from 21.9% at the end of 2008 to 24.1% at the end of 2013.

Working Towards Beating Unemployment

The current situation in South Africa is far from being desirable and government working with social partners is hard at work to find sustainable solutions. The National Development Plan calls for all South Africans to work together to realise the goal of reducing the unemployment rate to 14 per cent by 2020 and 6 per cent by 2030. Reducing unemployment is also one of the key priorities of government.

Reaching the goals of the NDP will require a change of mind-set from all role players, be it government, business or labour. We must find ways to tackle this issue decisively. This sentiment is confirmed by public perceptions of unemployment which are explored below.

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South Africas Youth Continues To Bear The Burden Of Unemployment

Youth in South Africa continue to be disadvantaged in the labour market with an unemployment rate higher than the national average. According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate was 63,9% for those aged 15-24 and 42,1% for those aged 25-34 years, while the current official national rate stands at 34,5%.

Although the graduate unemployment rate remains relatively low in South Africa compared to those of other educational levels, unemployment among the youth continues to be a burden, irrespective of educational attainment. Year-on-year, the unemployment rate among young graduates declined from 40,3% to 32,6%, while it increased by 6,9 percentage points to 22,4% for those aged 25-34 years in Q1: 2022.

As the country moves to celebrate National Youth Day and Youth Month under the theme: The Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: Growing youth employment for an inclusive and transformed society, the focus will be around various youth development and empowerment initiatives to support young people.

South Africa has over 10 million young people aged 15-24 years and, of these, only 2,5 million were in the labour force, either employed or unemployed. The largest share of this group of young people are those that are out of the labour force . The main reason for being inactive is discouragement, i.e. they have lost hope of finding a job that suits their skills or in the area they reside.

Unemployment Rate Falls In South Africa

South Africa’s statistics agency, Stats SA, has announced a drop in the unemployment rate, the first drop in nearly two years.

According to a statement from the government agency, “370,000 jobs were created between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022”.

The country was hit hard by the pandemic and since July 2020 that the number of jobless has been rising steadily.

The continent’s leading industrial power now has 14.9 million workers out of a population of nearly 60 million.

The number of unemployed fell by 60,000 from the previous quarter to 7.9 million. The unemployment rate stands now at 34,5%.

Job creation benefited community and social services, manufacturing and trade sectors. Finance, construction and agriculture continued to lose jobs.

Earlier this year, tensions flared against foreign workers.

The number of unemployed young people decreased by 0.1% compared to the end of last year to 4.7 million.

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South Africa’s Unemployment Rate Hits New Record High In Q4 2021

PRETORIA, March 29 – South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to a new record high of 35.3% in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 34.9% in the third quarter due to job losses mainly in manufacturing and construction, the statistics agency said on Tuesday.

Statistics South Africa said the number of unemployed totalled 7.921 million people in the October-December period, compared with 7.643 million people in the previous three months.

The rate was the highest since the quarterly labour force survey began in 2008.

According to an expanded definition of unemployment that includes those discouraged from seeking work, 46.2% of the labour force was without work in the fourth quarter, from 46.6% in the third quarter.

Job losses in the fourth quarter were concentrated in manufacturing, which lost 85,000 jobs, and construction which shed 25,000 jobs.

On the other hand, private households, trade as well as community and social services had recorded job gains.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated South Africa’s labour market woes last year. Before the pandemic, the economy was already suffering from high levels of joblessness as problems such as persistent electricity cuts choked growth, contributing to poverty and inequality.

The finance ministry expects economic growth of 2.1% this year, a rate officials and economists have said is far below the level required to make a meaningful dent in unemployment and poverty.

Unemployment In South Africa Is Probably Lower Than Estimated Says Ilo Study

ILO/96/31

ILO/96/31

GENEVA – A comprehensive review of South Africa’s labour-market and economic developments Endnote suggests that the country’s rate of unemployment, which is often cited as being the highest in the world, is probably much lower than previous estimates indicate.

According to research published by the International Labour Office in Geneva, the actual rate of unemployment in South Africa may be as much as one-third lower than stated figures. The review, which covers all the major industrial sectors in the country, also concludes that South Africa’s labour market “is highly flexible by international standards.”

The ILO study says that while unemployment is “serious in South Africa … it is only one dimension of the labour market crisis facing the country”. Poverty and inequality, the authors underline, “are problems that have to be addressed with at least as much force as unemployment.”

Prepared at the request of the South African Government, the results of the study were recently presented to the Cabinet and to President Nelson Mandela. The ILO research highlights the major labour market challenges that must be met in order to ensure economic growth and social stability, including overcoming income inequality, reducing unemployment and boosting industrial productivity.

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South Africa Unemployment Rate Momentum

South Africa unemployment rate momentum is monitored by calculating its long-term year over year return and its short-term month on month return.

Free Monitor of South Africa Financial Markets & Economic trends

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The Provinces In South Africa Where More People Are Unemployed Than Working

South Africas unemployment rate trended downwards in the third quarter of 2022 despite the inflated cost of living, rising interest rates and fuel prices, and worsening load shedding.

The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey , published by Statistics South Africa on Tuesday , shows that the official unemployment decreased by one percentage point from 33.9% in the second quarter of 2022 to 32.9% in the third quarter of 2022.

This marks the lowest unemployment rate in six quarters, as the number of unemployed persons declined by 269,000 to 7.725 million, while employment rose by 204,000 to 15.765 million.

The data shows that the number of employed persons decreased in three provinces between Q2 2022 and Q3 2022 with the exceptions being Gauteng, Western Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Mpumalanga, and the Eastern and Northern Capes.

The most significant employment decreases were recorded in the North West , Limpopo and the Free State .

The updated unemployment data shows that there are now two provinces in South Africa with an expanded unemployment rate of more than 50%, while Limpopo is toeing the line at 49.9%.

These two provinces are:

• The North West and

The reality remains discouraging

Despite the positive trend indicated by the QLFS, the total employment level remains below pre-Covid levels. According to economists from the Bureau for Economic Research, employment levels are still about 600,000 below the pre-Covid situation.

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Unemployment Rate Eases To 241%

11 February 2014

South Africas unemployment rate eased to 24.1% in the fourth quarter of 2013 from a revised 24.5% in the third quarter, Statistics South Africa reported on Tuesday.

Releasing its Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Stats SA said the number of jobs had increased by 141 000 in the quarter, largely due to an increase of 123 000 jobs in the informal sector and 64 000 jobs in the formal sector.

Most of the increase was among people with temporary and short-term contracts, Stats SA said, adding: Despite the rise in employment numbers, the proportion of working-age South Africans with jobs, at 43.3%, is still below the pre-recession peak of 46.2% observed in quarter four of 2008.

Informal non-agricultural sector jobs increased by 123 000 over the fourth quarter, while formal sector non-agricultural jobs increased by 64 000. Over the course of the quarter, the agricultural sector and private households shed 27 000 and 20 000 jobs.

The number of unemployed people decreased by 50 000 over the period, while the labour force grew by 91 000.

Nedbank economists, commenting on the latest figures, said South Africas unemployment rate was unlikely to be reduced significantly in the short term given weak domestic demand, rising input costs, labour disputes, significant infrastructure constraints and other regulatory issues in some key sectors.

The Reserve bank raised the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.5% in January.

Bridging The Labour Market Skills Gap To Tackle Youth Unemployment In South Africa

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Possible Root Causes Of Unemployment

There are various arguments about the causes of unemployment in South Africa, some of which are:

Legacy of apartheid and poor education and training

Some research shows that the deliberate exclusion of black people from the educational system and from skilled occupations under apartheid contributed to high rates of unemployment today.

Inadequate education and lack of productivity is costing jobs. Unemployment increases progressively with decreased educational levels and the education system is not producing the skills for the labour market.

Labour demand – supply mismatch

Labour supply is affected by the increase in the number of job seekers over the years. The rate of entry of women – especially African women – into the labour market has risen sharply. Furthermore, the South African population is a young population more people enter the working age as compared to the number of jobs that become available in the labour market.

The effects of the 2008/2009 global recession

During the recession, many workers lost their jobs, the largest number in manufacturing. This meant that companies could no longer afford to employ more people and had to reduce the workforce, therefore contributing to the unemployment rate in the country.

Role of trade union federations in government: General lack of interest for entrepreneurship

Factsheet: Unemployment Statistics In South Africa Explained

South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. Politicians often bandy about claims about employment in an attempt to score political points. When the claims sound too good to be true our readers get in touch

In the past, we’ve fact-checked numerous employment claims. Does South Africa really employ more civil servants than the US? Are 31.5% of white men jobless? Has South Africas economy regained the 1 million jobs it lost as the result of the 2008 global recession? Has unemployment in South Africa increased by 60% in the past 19 years

This factsheet looks at how unemployment is measured in South Africa.

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South Africa Unemployment Rate 1991

• South Africa unemployment rate for 2021 was 33.56%, a 4.34% increasefrom 2020.
• South Africa unemployment rate for 2020 was 29.22%, a 0.75% increase from 2019.
• South Africa unemployment rate for 2019 was 28.47%, a 1.56% increase from 2018.
• South Africa unemployment rate for 2018 was 26.91%, a 0.13% decline from 2017.

Unemployment Rate: Aged 15

Observation:

Data in this graph are copyrighted. Please review the copyright information in the series notes before sharing.

OECD unit ID: STSAOECD country ID: ZAFAll OECD data should be cited as follows: OECD, “Main Economic Indicators – complete database”, Main Economic Indicators , Copyright, 2016, OECD. Reprinted with permission.

Suggested Citation:

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Unemployment Rate: Aged 15-64: All Persons for South Africa , retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LRUN64TTZAQ156S, December 13, 2022.

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Broad Versus Narrow Unemployment

The question of who should be considered unemployed is controversial. In 1998, Stats SA officially adopted a strict definition of unemployment that was in line with the International Labour Organisation definition used by more than 80% of both developed and less developed countries, and South Africas major trading partners

The strict definition of unemployment considers a person to be unemployed only if they have taken active steps to look for work or to start some form of self-employment in the four weeks prior to the interview. They are sometimes referred to as the searching unemployed

The expanded or broad definition of unemployment includes discouraged job-seekers: those that want to work but are not actively searching for a job as they have lost hope, wanted to work but there are no jobs in the area or were unable to find work that required their skills. They are sometimes referred to as the non-searching unemployed

South African academics have suggested that there is little to distinguish the searching unemployed from the non-searching unemployed in South Africa. They argue that discouraged job seekers should be considered part of the unemployed population

A 2013 University of KwaZulu-Natal study found that there was little to distinguish the searchers from the non-searchers in the terms of their commitment to finding work. The study also showed that the searching unemployed were not more likely to find a job than the non-searching employed