South Africa’s unemployment rate increased to 30.1% in the first quarter of this year from 29.1% in the previous quarter, according to data released by Statistics South Africa.
It was the highest jobless rate on record since quarterly data became available in 2008, as the number of unemployed people increased by 344 thousand to an all-time high of 7.1 million. Job losses were across the board with industries such as finance, agriculture, transport, manufacturing, and construction shedding thousands of jobs.
The expanded definition of unemployment, including people who have stopped looking for a job, increased to 39.7% from 38.7% in the prior period.
Mamello Matikinca-Ngwenya, FNB Chief Economist, said: “The rise in the unemployment rate to 30.1% in the first quarter of this year came as little surprise to us, given the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the South African economy and the globe in general,” she said.
“Our preliminary estimates point to around 900 000 job losses for this year. In the absence of reforms and growth-enhancing measures it is going to be very difficult to see how the economy regains some of these job losses,” she added.
The worsening unemployment numbers are expected to worsen in the second quarter due to the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, with several companies having already announced their intention to retrench workers.
