Standard Bank Group head of South Africa macroeconomic research, Elna Moolman, said the country needed to grow the economy to justify employment creation.
This after the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) released on Tuesday, showed that the employment rate in South Africa has decreased by one percentage point to 32.9% in the first quarter of 2025. This is compared to 31.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“The Quarterly Labour Force Survey reflects a rather bleak picture of employment in South Africa. In the first quarter of this year, employment was only 43 000 higher than the same time last year.
Informal and formal sectors
“These jobs were all created in the informal sector with a rather steep decline in formal sector employment over this period. When we look at the level of employment relative to the size of the economy, …it is at a reasonable level compared to historical trends,” said Moolman.
The statistics show that KwaZulu-Natal experienced the largest decline. The province shed 104 000 jobs, and Eastern Cape followed with a decrease of 83 000 jobs. North West lost 57 000 jobs.
Limpopo had a decline of 55 000 jobs, Mpumalanga lost 43 000 jobs, while Northern Cape had 12 000 job losses.
Western Cape shows increase
However, Western Cape recorded an increase of 49 000 in employment, while Gauteng and Free State saw smaller increases of 9 000 and 4 000, respectively.
Overall, the statistics show that the number of unemployed people dropped by 291 000. This brings the total number of employed people down to 16.8 million from 17.1 million. The number of unemployed people rose to 8.2 million.
These changes resulted in a small decrease in the overall labour force, which dropped by 54 000 people or 0.2%.
The number of discouraged job-seekers also saw a slight increase by 0.2%. While the number of people who are not economically active for reasons other that discouragement increased by 1.4%.
This pushed the total number of people who are not economically active by 184 000 to 16.7 million. The figure is according to the QLFS (Quarterly Labour Force Survey).
Expanded unemployment rate
The expanded unemployment rate, which includes people who have given up looking for work, also increased. It rose by 1.2%, from 41.9% in the last quarter of 2024 to 43.1% in the first quarter of 2025.
The formal employment sector dropped by 245 000 jobs. But the informal sector showed a slight increase by 17 000.
Transport gained 67 000 jobs, finance gained 60 000 jobs and utilities saw an increase of 35 000 jobs.
However, several industries saw job losses with employment in the trade industry dropped by 194 000. Construction lost 119 000 jobs and, private households saw a decrease of 68 000 jobs. Community and social services lost 119 000 jobs, and mining lost 35 000 jobs.
Youth most affected
Young people between the ages of 15 and 34 continue to be the most affected in the labour market.
The number of unemployed youth increased by 151 000, reaching a total of 4.8 million.
The number of employed youth decreased by 153 000 to 5.7 million. The youth unemployment rate rose from 44.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 46.1% in the first quarter of 2025.
