First quarter unemployment creeps up – Stats SA
The official unemployment rate during the first quarter of 2023 increased marginally by 0.2% to 32.9%, Statistics South Africa announced on Tuesday.
This is up from 39.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Statistician-general Risenga Maluleke said the latest labour force survey showed that 179 000 more people were unemployed in the first quarter.
“So having recorded an increase in the number of unemployed people has increased our unemployment rate by 0.2% and of course that has put us at 32.9% as our headline unemployment rate for the first quarter of 2023.”
The same quarter has also recorded an increase in the number of people that are employed, but the figure was offset by the increase in unemployment.
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In the first quarter, a total of 258 000 more people were employed compared to the previous quarter.
This brings the total number of people who are employed in the country to 16.2 million.
Manufacturing, construction, mining, trade and private households were the biggest contributing sectors to the loss in employment.
