Unemployment dips marginally — Stats SA

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has announced a 0.3 percentage point decrease in official unemployment from the first to the second quarter of 2023, with the official unemployment rate down from 32.9% in the first quarter to 32.6% in the second quarter.

Unemployment by the expanded definition decreased to 42.1% in the second quarter, according to Stats SA.

The quarterly labour force survey found that the number of employed people increased by 154,000 to 16.3-million in the second quarter of 2023 compared with the first quarter.

“The number of unemployed persons decreased by 11,000 to 7.9-million during the same quarter. Additionally, the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 93,000 to 13.3-million,” said Stats SA.

Stats SA added that the number of discouraged work-seekers decreased by 94,000 in the second quarter of 2023 compared with the first quarter. This resulted in a net decrease of 1,000 in the not economically active population.

Formal sector employment increased by 143,000 in the second quarter, while informal sector employment decreased by 33,000. The largest gains in employment were seen in:

• construction, with 104,000 jobs added;
• trade, with 92,000 jobs added; and
• social services, with 63,000 jobs added.

Sectors that suffered employment losses between the first and second quarter were:

• manufacturing, which lost 96,000;
• finance, which lost 68,000 jobs;
• transport, which lost 7,000; and
• utilities, which lost 6,000 jobs.

Provinces with the highest gains in jobs between quarters were Limpopo with 80,000, the Western Cape with 54,000, and KwaZulu-Natal, with 48 000.

Conversely, the Free State lost 59,000 jobs and the Northern Cape shed 17,000 jobs during the same period.

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