The official unemployment rate decreased from a record high of 35.3% in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 34.5% in the first quarter of 2022, Statistics SA reported on Monday. This translates to 7.9 million people in the country officially unemployed.
Statistics SA said the number of unemployed totalled 7.862 million people in three months to end-March, compared to 7.921 million people in the previous three months.
Under the expanded definition of unemployment, which includes people who have given up looking for employment, the jobless rate stands at 45.5%. This translates to 12.4 million people who are unemployed. It fell from 46.2% to 45.5%.
According to the latest data, an estimated 370 000 jobs were gained between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. The biggest gains came from the community and social services, manufacturing and trade, while job losses were recoded in private households, finance, construction and agriculture.
Unemployment among people aged between 15 and 24 was the highest as it stands at 63.9% and 25 to 34 years stands at 42.1%. About 3.8 million out of 10.2 million people aged between 15 and 24 years were not in employment, education or training (NEET). The overall NEET rate increased by 4.6 percentage points in the previous year.
South Africa’s economy recovered quicker than expected from the Covid-19 pandemic last year, but growth in 2022 is expected to slow to a meagre 1.7% according to the central bank’s latest forecast.
Source: Fin24, ENCA, Moneyweb, Reuters, image from Reuters: Sipho Sibeko