About 33,5% of the population are unemployed, this is according to Statistics South (StatsSA) second quarter report of 2024.
This is a 6% increase from the first quarter’s 32,9%.
About 158 000 lost their jobs in the second quarter, compared to about 8,4 million, in the first quarter of 2024.
About 92 000 people got jobs in the second quarter of this year, ending in June 2024.
Discouraged work-seekers increased by 147 000 (up by 4,8%), while the number of persons who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 75 000 (down by 0,6%) between the two quarters.
There is only a 4,9% increase in the employment of women. There was a rise to 55,8% in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period back in 2024 of 50,9%.
Risenga Maluleke, the Statistician General of StatsSA, said the most significant increases in labour force participation were observed among women with less than a matric qualification (rising from 40,0% to 43,1%, an increase of 3,1 percentage points) and graduates (rising from 85,7% to 87,2%, an increase of 1,5 percentage points) over the 10-year period.
In terms of the absorption rate, men consistently reported higher rates than women from 2014 to 2024, with gender differences ranging from 9,0 to 12,5 percentage points.
The Black Management Forum (BMF) of South Africa expressed concern, regarding the findings of the second quarterly labour force survey (QLFS) which was recently released by Stats SA.
In a statement, the BMF said it is alarmed by employment losses in the formal sector, agriculture, private households, and construction while informal sector employment rose significantly.
“This trend evidences the deepening of the two-economies and a loss of public confidence in the mainstream economy which is supported by a rise in discouraged work seekers to 147 000.”
The organisation said it is a worrying trend that women and youth continue to bear the brunt of poor economic performance and rising unemployment.
Picture: Risenga Maluleke, Statistician General, StatsSA