South Africa’s unemployment rate eased to 32.1% in the third quarter of 2024 after hitting a two-year high of 33.5% in the second quarter. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
South Africa’s unemployment rate eased to 32.1% in the third quarter of 2024 after hitting a two-year high of 33.5% in the second quarter, Statistics South Africa said in its quarterly labour force survey on Tuesday.
During the third quarter, the number of employed people increased by 294 000 to 16.9 million, while the number of those unemployed decreased by 373 000 to 8 million compared with the second quarter, resulting in a drop of 79 000 0.3% in the labour force, Stats SA said.
Jobs in the formal sector rose by 122 000 and those in the informal sector were up 165 000. Notable increases were recorded in the community and social services sector as well as in construction and trade.
There were however losses in the finance, private households, manufacturing and transport sectors.
The survey showed that young people remain vulnerable in the labour market.
“The third quarter of 2024 results show that the total number of unemployed youth decreased by 171 000 to 4.8 million, while employed youth recorded an increase of 66 000 to 5.8 million,” Stats SA said.
“As a result, the youth unemployment rate decreased from 46.6% in the second quarter of 2024 to 45.5% in the third quarter of 2024.”