Unemployment increases again in second quarter

The official unemployment rate in South Africa increased again in the second quarter by 0.6% to 33.5%.

Statistics SA (StatsSA) released the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter on Tuesday.

There was a decrease of 92 000 in the number of employed people during the period to 16.7 million. While there was an increase of 158 000 in the number of unemployed to 8.4 million compared to the first quarter, resulting in an increase of 66 000 (0.3%) in the labour force.

According to StatsSA, the number of discouraged work-seekers increased by 147 000 (up by 4.8%).

The number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 75 000 (down by 0.6%) between the two quarters, resulting in an increase of 72 000 in the number of not economically active people to 16,3 million.

These changes in employment and unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate increasing by 0.6% from 32,9% in the first quarter to 33.5% in the second quarter of 2024.

Compared to the first quarter, the expanded unemployment rate in the second quarter increased by 0.7% to 42,6%.

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Youth unemployment still the highest

Young people still top the list with the highest unemployment rates with 60.8% of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 and 41.7% of those between the ages of 25 and 34 unemployed. Approximately 3.6 million (35.2%) out of 10.3 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 were not in employment, education or training. In the age group 35 to 64 years, the unemployment rate is 23.7%.

Formal sector employment decreased by 77,000, while informal sector employment increased by 48,000 over the same period. All employment sectors decreased between the first and second quarters of 2024, except for the informal sector which increased by 48 000 jobs.

Industries that shed jobs were trade (111 000), agriculture (45 000), private households (18 000), construction (11 000) and finance (9 000). Increases in employment were mainly recorded in manufacturing (49 000), community and social services (36 000) and utilities (9 000).

The largest decreases in employment were observed in the Western Cape where 65 000 were shed, Mpumalanga, where 50 000 jobs were cut and KwaZulu-Natal where 49 000 jobs were lost, while the largest increases in jobs were observed in Gauteng where 42 000 more jobs were created, Limpopo, where 31 000 more people were employed and Eastern Cape where 25 000 jobs were created.

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Unemployment affected mainly women

Cutting jobs impacted mainly women. According to Statistics SA, comparisons between the first and second quarters of 2024 show that the total number of unemployed women increased by 93 000 to 4.1 million, while the number of employed women decreased by 28 000 to 7.4 million., resulting in the women’s unemployment rate increasing from 35.2% in the first quarter to 35.8% in the second quarter of 2024.

According to the data, 36.6% of young women between the ages of 15 and 24 were not in employment, education or training, a 0.6% increase compared to the second quarter of 2023.

The graduate unemployment rate decreased by 2.1 percentage points to 9.7%, compared to 11.8% in the first quarter. However, people with matric and less remain vulnerable with 35.8% of people with matric and 39.3% with less than matric unemployed.

The unemployment rate of 37.6% among the Black African population group remains higher than the national average and other population groups. The unemployment rate for whites is 7.9%, 13.9% for Indians/Asians, and for coloured people it is 23.3%.