work tools unemployment rate south africa

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SA ‘expanded unemployment rate’ hits 42% – breaking unwanted records

You might have to read these figures from behind the sofa: The unemployment rate has soared in the previous quarter, after lockdown took its dramatic toll.

work tools unemployment rate south africa

Photo: Unsplash

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has released the results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the second quarter of 2020 at a media briefing held on Tuesday. Those of a nervous disposition may want to look away now, because our expanded unemployment rate has rocketed thanks to the twin blows from COVID-19 and lockdown.

What is South Africa’s unemployment rate?

Rising by 2.3% in one quarter, the expanded unemployment rate – which accounts for citizens who are technically ‘excluded from the economy – has gone from 39.7% to 42.0%. However, the misery doesn’t end there – the new figure is the worst ever seen in 21st-century South Africa.

How many jobs have been lost during lockdown in South Africa?

The previous record, set back in 2003, has been comprehensively smashed on Tuesday. Granted, these are extraordinary times, but our Q1 data – which was largely unaffected by the onset of coronavirus – cut a grim figure regardless. Mzansi’s problems were stacked up well before the world was hit by this deadly disease.

A total of 2.2 million jobs were lost in the previous quarter.

‘Pandemic quarter’ cripples Mzansi

This dreadful news comes off the back of our shock GDP figures, which showed the economy tanked by an eye-watering 51% in the second financial quarter of 2020. The impact of lockdown has been jaw-dropping, to say the least, and a hostile job market combined with a soaring unemployment rate has been described as a ‘punch in the gut’ by StatsSA.

Nearly all industries experienced a massive drop in output in the second quarter of 2020. Construction was the biggest loser, already in bad shape before the pandemic. The industry experienced its eighth consecutive three-month decline, slumping further by 76.6%. Spending on restaurants and hotels nosedived by 99.9% in the ‘pandemic quarter’.