SA Provinces with highest unemployment: Stats SA
Stats SA reported unemployment rates increased from 31.9% to 32.1%, with the Eastern Cape experiencing the highest job losses.
South Africa’s unemployment rate went up to 32.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 31.9% in the third quarter, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) which released the data on Tuesday.
Year-on-year, the official unemployment rate decreased by 1,6 percentage points, mostly felt in six provinces which include the Eastern Cape followed by Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal
UNEMPLOYMENT HIGHEST IN EASTERN CAPE, LIMPOPO, NORTH WEST AND NORTHERN CAPE
Addressing a media briefing on Tuesday in Pretoria, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke, said the number of unemployed persons increased by 46,000 to 7.9 million compared to quarter three of last year due to job cuts in social services and agriculture sectors.
Maluleka said provincially, employment losses were recorded in Eastern Cape (111,000), Limpopo (40,000), North West (30,000) and Northern Cape (2,000). He said the largest employment increase was recorded in KwaZulu-Natal (62,000), followed by Mpumalanga (48,000) and Western Cape (23,000) during the same period.
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YOUTH REMAIN VULNERABLE IN LABOUR MARKET, SAYS STATS SA
“Additionally, the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 218,000 to 13.4 million, while discouraged work-seekers decreased by 107,000 in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2023. This resulted in a net increase of 111,000 in the not economically active population.”
“The youth (15–34 years) remain vulnerable in the labour market; the fourth quarter of 2023 results show that the total number of unemployed youth increased by 87,000 to 4.7 million while there was a decrease of 97,000 in the number of employed youth to 5.9 million. This resulted in an increase in the youth unemployment rate by 0.9 of a percentage point from 43.4% in Q3: 2023 to 44.3% in Q4: 2023,” he said.
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FORMAL SECTOR ACCOUNTS FOR ALMOST 70% OF TOTAL EMPLOYMENT
StatsSA said that employment decreases were mainly in the Services (-171,000), Construction (-36,000), and Agriculture (-35,000) industries, while the largest employment increases were recorded in Finance (+128,000), Transport (+57,000) and Mining (+37,000).
The formal sector in South Africa accounts for 68,7% of total employment, however, jobs within the sector decreased by 128,000 jobs between Q3:2023 and Q4:2023.