THE unemployment rate in South Africa is stagnant at 27.7 per cent with a 0.6 of a percent higher compared to the same period last year. This according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) who this week announced South Africa’s labour statistics with the release of the Third Quaterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the third quarter of 2017.

Youth (aged between 15-34) are the most vulnerable to employment with 38.6 per cent being unemployed – 10.9 percentage points above the national average. A total of 10.3 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are currently battling unemployment.

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The level of education severely affects unemployment Stats SA said in the report. They found that 57.4 per cent of youth do not have matric and this they said results in an unemployment rate of 36.6 per cent.

Growth in employment was the most prevalent in the finance sector with other business services industries showing significant improvement. These industries have grown by 68 000, while community, social and personal services towed the line with 56 000 and finally transport by 34 000.

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Manufacturing declined by 50 000, followed by construction with 30 000 and agriculture by 25 000.
According to the Household Financial Wellness Index, unemployment increased from 4.6 million people in 2011 to 5.9 million in 2016. It said it expected that 7.2 million would be out of jobs by the end of 2018.

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