By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa’s unemployment rate has, on the eve of a crucial general election, increased from 32.1% in the last quarter of 2023 to 32.9% in the first quarter of 2024.
Statistics South Africa announced on Tuesday that the official unemployment rate increased by 0.8% ahead of the hotly contested general election on May 29.
The Director of Labour Statistics, Dihlolelo Phoshoko said, the number of employed persons jumped by 22,000 quarterly to 16.7 million in Q1 2024.
However, the number of unemployed persons increased by 330,000 to 8.2 million over the same quarter.
Moreover, the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 214,000 to 13.1 million. Discouraged work-seekers decreased by 1,000 in Q1 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.
This caused a net decrease of 215,000 in the not economically active population.
Thus, the official unemployment rate increased by 0.8 of a percentage point from 32.1% in Q4 2023 to 32.9% in Q1 2024.
The unemployment rate, according to the expanded definition, also jumped by 0.8 of a percentage point to 41.9% in Q1 2024.
Formal sector employment jumped by 56,000 in Q1 2024, while informal sector employment decreased by 100,000.
The industries that contributed the most to the net employment increase included Trade (up by 109,000),Manufacturing (up by 99,000), Private households (up by 44,000), Transport (up by 39,000), Agriculture (21,000) and Mining (9,000).
Employment losses were recorded Community and social services (122,000), Construction (106,000), Finance (50,000) and Utilities (17,000).
Provinces that recorded jumps in employment were KwaZulu-Natal (35,000), Gauteng (26,000) and Northern Cape (4,000) quarter-on-quarter.
The remaining provinces, except the Free State which remained unchanged, all saw decreases, with the Western Cape (17,000) seeing the largest drop.
The latest stats show that even more young people are without a jobs.
“The number of employed youth decreased by 7,000 to 5.9 million, while the number of unemployed youth increased by 236 000 to 4.9 million, resulting in the youth unemployment increasing by 1.3 of a percentage point to 45.5% in the first quarter of 2024,” Phoshoko said.
Formal sector employment increased by 56,000 in the first quarter, while informal sector employment decreased by 100,000 over the same period.