SA’s unemployment rate has seen an overall decline for the second time in almost two years, with four sectors recording the biggest job gains.
Image: Bloomberg
The latest Stats SA data, released on Tuesday, showed the unemployment rate declined by 0.6% from 34.5% in the first quarter to 33.9% in the second quarter.
According to the data, 648,000 jobs were gained in the second quarter.
The unemployment rate, according to the expanded definition of unemployment, also decreased by 1.4% to 44.1 % in the second quarter compared with the first.
Four sectors with biggest job gains
The biggest job gains were 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,” said Stats SA.
Image: Stats SA
Number of unemployed
The number of unemployed people increased by 132,000 to 8-million in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter.
The number of discouraged work-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, resulting in a net decrease of 635,000 in the not economically active population.
Image: Stats SA
Unemployment stats by provinces
Provincially, the Eastern Cape has the highest unemployment rate at 42.8% and expanded rate of 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%.
Northern Cape, North West and KwaZulu-Natal had more than 15% points difference between expanded and official unemployment rates.
Image: Stats SA
More men hired than women
Stats SA said the labour market continues to favour men and shows no signs of making real progress towards improving prospects for women.
“Globally, women who are looking for work and are available to work have a tougher time finding work than men. This phenomenon is more pronounced in SA, with higher unemployment rates for the general population as compared to the rest of the world.
“In 2022, 47% of South African women were recorded as economically inactive. This means that almost half of the working age women in SA are out of the labour force compared to 35.6% of their male counterparts. The latest global labour force participation rate for women is about 47% compared to 72% for men. The productive potential of SA women in the labour market remains unused,” said Stats SA.
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