Unemployment falls by 1.4% in South Africa
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said unemployment fell by 1.4 % to 32.1% in the third quarter of 2024, down from a two-year high of 33.5% in the second quarter.
A SMALL silver lining in South Africa’s dark cloud of incredibly high unemployment was presented by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Tuesday, indicating a decline in the number of jobless people for the third quarter of 2024.
The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) stats delivered by Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke confirmed a decline of 1.4% from the previous quarter’s 33.5%, bringing the official unemployment rate down to 32.1%. According to the stats, there was an increase of 294 000 in the number of employed persons to 16.9 million in Q3: 2024 while there was a decrease of 373 000 in the number of unemployed persons to eight million.
“This resulted in a decrease of 79 000 (down by 0.3%) in the labour force during the same period. Discouraged work-seekers increased by 160 000 (up by 5.0%), and the number of persons who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 54 000 (up by 0.4%) between the second quarter and third quarter of 2024. This led to an increase of 214 000 in the non-economically active population to 16.5 million,” said Stats SA.
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The largest increase in employment was recorded in community and social services with 194 000 employed. The transport sector created the least opportunities with 18 000 employed. The results also indicate that the largest increases in employment were observed in Eastern Cape with 83 000 while decreases were only observed in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
“The youth (15–34 years) remain vulnerable in the labour market. The third quarter of 2024 results show that the total number of unemployed youth decreased by 171 000 to 4.8 million, while employed youth recorded an increase of 66 000 to 5.8 million. As a result, the youth unemployment rate decreased from 46.6% in the second quarter of 2024 to 45.5% in the third quarter of 2024,” said Stats SA.
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