South Africa’s unemployment rate has declined to 34.5% in the first quarter of 2022, shows the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, down from 35.3% recorded in the last quarter of 2021.
Statistics South Africa said the decline points to 370 000 jobs that were created between the two quarters. The survey is a household-based sample survey that records the labour market activities of individuals between the ages of 15 and 64.
“The biggest job gains were recorded in community and social services (281 000), manufacturing (263 000), and trade (98 000),” said Stats SA.
However, job losses were recorded in private households (186 000), finance (72 000), construction (60 000) and agriculture (23 000). The data show that the total number of persons employed in the first quarter of 2022 was 14.9-million.
Stats SA further announced that the number of unemployed people dropped by 60 000 to 7.9-million in the first quarter of 2022. “The number of discouraged work seekers decreased by 54 000 [1.4%] and the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement fell by 112 000 [0.8%] between the two quarters, resulting in a net decrease of 166 000 in the not economically active population.”
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