South Africa’s jobless rate was at 23,1% of the labour force in the second quarter of 2008, from 23,5% in the first quarter, a revamped quarterly labour report showed on Thursday.
In its latest Labour Force Survey, which will now be issued every three months against the previous twice-yearly reports, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said the total number of unemployed people was 4,1-million.
The survey, which provides estimates of employment in both the formal and informal sectors, showed the number of employed people was 0,8% higher than in the first quarter, with largest number of jobs created by the community and social services.
”This was largely on account of an expansion in formal-sector employment [non-agricultural] from 9,3-million in quarter one 2008 to 9,4-million in quarter two 2008 … although employment in the informal sector also rose by … 0,9%,” said Stats SA.
Razia Khan, head of research for Africa at Standard Chartered in London, said the slight decline in joblessness was encouraging.
”[This] suggests that the decline in unemployment will continue, despite recent softer GDP data.”
”But what happens in the months ahead will be key,” she said, adding that if the robust growth of the construction sector was sustained, more jobs would be created.
South Africa’s economy rebounded in the second quarter from a six-and-a-half-year low in the previous period, but expansion is still lagging the strong growth of the past four years.
In July the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development singled out unemployment as a key challenge to South Africa’s economic development.
High unemployment and poverty have clouded economic gains since the end of apartheid in 1994 and are seen as the main reason for the high level of violent crime in the country. — Reuters