On the up: Unemployment increased to 33.5% in the last quarter. (Dino Lloyd/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
Unemployment increased to 33.5% in the period April to June, rising for the third consecutive quarter and reaching its highest rate in two years, the latest labour force survey from Statistics South Africa showed on Tuesday.
The number of employed people decreased to 16.7 million in the second quarter, while that of jobless people increased by 158 000 to 8.4 million, according to the report.
Statistics South Africa said 137 000, or 0.3%, more people entered the workforce during the three months compared with the first quarter.
On a yearly basis, unemployment increased by 0.9 percentage points from 32.6% in the second quarter in 2023.
The 33.5% rate is the highest since unemployment reached 33.9% in the second quarter of 2022.
Compared with the first quarter of 2024, the expanded unemployment rate — which includes people that have given up looking for jobs – increased by 0.7 percentage points to 42.6% in the period April to June.
During the second quarter, formal sector employment declines were recorded in the trade (118 000), finance (24 000), construction (15 000), mining (10 000) and transport (1 000) industries, compared with the first quarter. There were however increases in manufacturing (41 000), community and social services (37 000) and utilities (8 000).
Compared with a year ago, there was a net gain of 138 000 jobs in formal sector employment, mainly driven by the finance (292 000) and manufacturing (59 000) industries.
The agricultural sector lost 45 000 jobs in the second quarter and jobs in private households fell by 18 000.
Jobs in the informal sector increased by 48 000, driven by gains in the finance (15 000) and mining (13 000) industries.