Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian

Discouraged Work Seekers

latest news & developments
Youth unemployment rose to 43.8% among 15-to-34-year-olds in Q4 2025, even as the headline rate fell. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
BUSINESS

Unemployment rate eases but structural crisis deepens

The decline brings the official rate to its lowest level since the Covid-19 shock pushed unemployment above 30%

  • Hasina Kathrada
4 min read
Ravi Naidoo is chief executive of the Youth Employment Service
APARTHEID EDUCATION

Time to turn SA’s unemployment nightmare into a bold dream

The Youth Employment Service is helping thousands of our youths to land that vital first job

  • Ravi Naidoo
5 min read
Harsh conditions: Unemployed men play a game of cards while waiting for temporary work. South Africa’s unemployment rate has yet again hit a record high, climbing to 34.4% of the labour force in the second quarter of 2021. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
COVID 19

Unemployment rate hits record high — again

South Africa added more than half a million workers to its unemployed labour force in the second quarter of 2021

  • Sarah Smit
2 min read
The unemployment rate reached 32.6%, the highest since the survey was launched in 2008, in the first three months of 2021
DISCOURAGED WORK SEEKERS

South Africa hits new unemployment record

The unemployment rate reached 32.6%, the highest since the survey was launched in 2008, in the first three months of 2021

  • Sarah Smit
2 min read