South Africa, which has the highest unemployment rate of more than 40 emerging markets tracked by Bloomberg, lost 28 000 nonfarming jobs in the second quarter.
Employment in the formal, nonagricultural industries fell by 0.3% to 8.4-million jobs compared with the first quarter, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said on its website on Tuesday. The data is based on a survey of companies registered to pay taxes.
Africa's largest economy grew at an annualised 3% in the second quarter, up from 0.9% in the first quarter, as manufacturing output and finance, real estate and business services expanded, the statistics office said on August 27. The Reserve Bank has kept its benchmark repurchase rate at 5% for more than a year and will likely hold the rate on Thursday, according to 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The unemployment rate, which reached a two-year high of 25.6% in the second quarter, is calculated from a survey of formal and informal industries. The government is targeting a 14% jobless rate by 2020. South Africa added 0.1% more jobs in the second quarter from a year earlier, Statistics South Africa said. – Bloomberg