South Africa’s unemployment rate has decreased to 33.9% in the second quarter of 2022, from 34.5% in the first quarter, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Tuesday.
According to Stats SA’s quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), 648 000 more jobs were gained during the April to June period, bringing the total number of employed persons in the country to 15.6 million.
The unemployment rate according to expanded definition also decreased by 1.4 percentage points to 44.1% in quarter 2 of 2022 compared to the first quarter. The biggest job gains were recorded in Community and Social Services (276, 000), Trade (169, 000), Finance (128, 000), and Construction (104, 000).
However, there were job losses in Manufacturing (73, 000) and Transport (54, 000). The total number of persons employed was 15.6 million in the second quarter of 2022.
The number of unemployed people increased by 132 000 to 80 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter. The number discouraged jo seekers decreased by 183 000 (4.9%), and the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 452,000 (3.3%) between the two quarters.
Provincially, the Eastern Cape has the highest unemployment rate at 42.8% (expanded, 51.8%). Limpopo has the second highest unemployment rate at 36.3%, but KwaZulu-Natal has the second highest expanded rate at 49.4%.
The Northern Cape has the lowest unemployment rate at 23.7%, but the Western Cape has the lowest rate by the expanded definition at 31.3%.
Source: Business Tech, Moneyweb, image from Twitter: Newzroom Afrika