North West has recorded the sharpest decline in unemployment in South Africa, emerging as the country’s top-performing province in job creation over the past year and giving Premier Lazarus Mokgosi a rare economic boost amid intensifying political contestation ahead of the ANC’s provincial elective conference.
According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa this week, the province’s official unemployment rate fell by 6.2 percentage points year on year – the largest drop recorded nationally – while the country as a whole saw a more modest decline of 0.5 percentage points.
The data, released in mid-February, reflects labour market conditions for the final quarter of 2025 and signals what provincial authorities describe as an emerging upward trajectory in employment growth.
Provincial figures indicate that nearly 80 000 jobs were created in North West across the last two quarters of 2025, with agriculture, construction and the public service driving most of the employment gains.
“The North West province continues to demonstrate an upward trend in job creation following the recent Quarterly Labour Force Survey,” the Office of the Premier said on Thursday.
Mokgosi attributed the gains to the province’s Provincial Growth and Development Strategy, adopted last year to stimulate economic expansion and employment.
“We are now starting to witness an upward trajectory on our job creation initiatives, which have culminated in the reduction of unemployment by over 6%,” Mokgosi said.
Despite the improvement in the official unemployment rate, the province’s expanded unemployment rate, which includes discouraged work-seekers, declined by only 1.9 percentage points, a gap Mokgosi acknowledged as a concern.
Participating in the recent State of the Nation Address debate, the premier outlined further interventions aimed at sustaining job creation, including infrastructure and tourism-linked projects.
Among these projects is the planned revival of Pilanesberg Airport to stimulate commercial activity in the Moses Kotane municipality.
“This Friday we will be signing a memorandum of understanding with the national Department of Public Works and Infrastructure to see the full implementation of our plans for the Pilanesberg Airport.”
The ANC has seized on the figures as evidence that government economic interventions are beginning to stabilise the labour market.
In a statement on Wednesday, the party welcomed the national decline in unemployment, describing it as “evidence of sustained economic intervention” and proof that coordinated policy measures were beginning to yield results.
“The ANC welcomes the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa, confirming a 0.5 percentage point decrease in the official unemployment rate.
“This measurable improvement reflects movement in the right direction and signals that sustained policy interventions are beginning to yield tangible results in the labour market,” the party said.
The ANC attributed the decline to “deliberate economic stabilisation measures, expanded infrastructure investment, and focused employment programmes aimed at stimulating inclusive growth”.
While acknowledging that overall unemployment and youth joblessness remain high, the party said the improvement demonstrates that “coordinated economic reform, fiscal discipline, and growth-focused industrial policy can reverse negative trends”.
In North West, the favourable labour data comes at a politically sensitive moment.
Mokgosi is consolidating his profile as both premier and a rising provincial power broker, with allies pointing to the employment figures as evidence of administrative stability and policy traction under his leadership.
Provincial officials argue that the growth and development strategy is beginning to translate into measurable economic outcomes, particularly in labour-intensive sectors such as agriculture and construction.
The resuscitation of key infrastructure, including transport and tourism nodes, is expected to form the next phase of job creation efforts.
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