SA's unemployment rate decreased by 0.2% to 32.7%
Statistics South Africa released the results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the fourth quarter of 2022.
The results indicate that 169
000 jobs were gained between the third quarter and the fourth quarter of 2022. Resulting
in 15.9 million people employed in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The number of unemployed
people increased by 28 000 which is 7.8%. Meanwhile the number of people who
were not economically active for reasons besides discouragement increased by
95 000 to 13.4 million and the discouraged work-seekers decreased by 151
000 compared to the previous quarter resulting in a net decrease of 57 000 in
the not economically active population.
The change in employment
and unemployment rate led to the official unemployment rate decreasing by 0.2
to 32.7% compared to the 32.9% in third quarter of 2022.
The sector of finance had the largest gains in employment as private households, Trade, and
Transport. In contrast, the Community and Social Services experienced a loss of
122,000 jobs, Agriculture lost 12 000, and Construction also lost 12 000 jobs.
The formal sector recorded an increase in employment of 143 000 and the
informal sector recorded a loss in employment of 15 000 between the third
quarter and fourth quarter of 2022.
The Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the
City is encouraged by unemployment in Cape Town declining by 2,6 percentage
points, with the city maintaining the lowest unemployment rate of the metros.
However, much work still lies ahead to ensure more economic growth that lifts
people out of poverty over time. The latest StatsSA Quarterly Labour Force
survey for Oct – Dec 22 shows Cape Town’s unemployment rate is at 26.9%,
down 2,6% from the previous quarter. This is based on the expanded unemployment
definition, which offers the most complete estimate.
The mayor added that the City continues to lay the
foundation for economic growth which include a number of programmes such as
Ending load-shedding, Good financial governance, Improving ease of doing
business, Investment incentives including one-stop investment facilitation and
more
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