The country has seen a 1% decrease in its unemployment rate in Q3. Image: Pixabay
Unemployment rate decreases – Around 204 000 jobs gained in Q3
The country has seen a 1% decrease in unemployment rate – biggest increase in jobs in the manufacturing sector.
The country has seen a 1% decrease in its unemployment rate in Q3. Image: Pixabay
Stats SA released its Quarterly Labour Force Survey on 29 November which shows a 1% decrease in the country’s unemployment rate.
204 000 jobs gained in the last quarter – around 204 000 jobs gained
With around 204 000 jobs gained in the third quarter, unemployment has decreased by 1%.
The unemployment rate now stands at 32.9%, this is a year-on-year decrease of around two percentage points.
The official unemployment rate has slightly decreased by 1% to 32.9% in the last quarter of 2022.
Some 204 000 job were gains during the last quarter – a year-on-year decrease of about two percentage points.
In the third quarter of 2022, the number of unemployed fell by 269 000 to 7.7 million, while discouraged job seekers fell by 54 000 to 3.5 million.
The population of those who were not actively engaged in the workforce due to factors other than discouragement increased by 264 000 over the two quarters, resulting in a net rise of 210 000.
Most provinces record decrease in expanded unemployment rate
Except for the North West, Limpopo, and Free State, where it rose by 4.1 percentage points, 2.4 points, and 0.5 percentage points, respectively, all provinces saw a decline in the expanded unemployment rate.
“The largest decrease was recorded in KwaZulu-Natal (down by three percentage points), followed by Western Cape and Gauteng (down by 1.8 percentage points each) and Mpumalanga (down by 1.6 percentage points),” Stats SA said.
Persons between the ages of 15 – 34 still vulnerable in the labour market
Results from the third quarter of 2022 confirm that young people between 15 to 34 are still at risk.
There has been a 45.5% unemployment rate in this age group.
There were fewer than 4.6 million young people without jobs overall.
During the same period, there was a 25 000 increase in the number of young people who were employed.
Stats SA reports that employment increased across several industries, bringing the country’s overall number of working people to almost 15.8 million.
Biggest job gains recorded in these sectors:
- Manufacturing – 123 000
- Trade – 82 000
- Construction – 46 000
- Transport – 33 000
Biggest job gains recorded in these sectors:
- Finance 80 000
- Private households – 36 000
- Mining – 1 000
- Agriculture – 1 000
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