After increasing in the second quarter, the unemployment rate in South Africa has decreased for the first time in many months.
The Labour Force Survey for the third quarter of the year shows a decrease of 1.4% in unemployment in South Africa, from 33.5% in the second quarter of 2024 to 32.1% in the third quarter.
According to Statistics SA’s latest Quarterly Labour Force survey, the number of employed people increased by 294,000 to 16.9 million in the third quarter, while there was a decrease of 373,000 in the number of unemployed people to 8 million.
This resulted in a decrease of 79,000 (-0.3%) in the labour force.
The number of discouraged work-seekers increased by 160 000 (+5%) and the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 54 000 (+0.4%) between the second quarter and third quarter of 2024.
This led to an increase of 214,000 in the number of people who are not economically active to 16.5 million.
Statistics SA says the expanded unemployment rate in the third quarter decreased by 0.7% to 41.9% compared with the second quarter of 2024.
The expanded unemployment rate in South Africa is the unemployment rate that includes people who have given up looking for work.
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Employment in formal and informal sectors
The number of people employed in the formal sector increased by 122,000 in the third quarter and by 165,000 in the informal sector.
The largest increases in employment were recorded in community and social services, which added 194,000 jobs, construction which added 176,000 jobs, and trade which added 109,000 jobs).
However, 189,000 jobs were lost in finance. Private households shed 32,000 jobs, manufacturing saw 20,000 jobs lost, and transport shed 18,000 jobs.
Statistics SA says the results also indicate that the largest increases in employment were observed in the Eastern Cape where 83,000 jobs were added, the Western Cape where 75,000 jobs were added, North West where 69,000 jobs were added; and Mpumalanga where 49,000 jobs were added.
On the other hand, Gauteng shed 66,000 jobs and KwaZulu-Natal 2,000.
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Youth unemployment decreased
Although the youth between the ages of 15 and 34 remain vulnerable in the labour market, the Labour Force Survey for the third quarter shows 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.
