ON the eve of the fifth national general elections, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) released the figures on the country’s unemployment rate. According to statisticians from the organisation South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to 25.2% in the first quarter of 2014, up from the 24.1% in the fourth quarter of 2013,according to the Quarterly Labour Force (QLF).
The number of people without work increased by 237 000. Year-on-year figures show that both employment and unemployment rose by 496 000 and 205 000 respectively.
Releasing the report, statistician general Pali Lehohla said that unemployment is the main poverty driver in the country.
In the first quarter, formal sector employment increased in the construction and manufacturing industries.
In its reaction to the data, Nedbank economists said the rise in unemployment reflects a sharp drop in employment in the informal non-agricultural sector jobs, saying it is likely to remain high.
“The unemployment rate is likely to remain high in the short term given weak domestic demand, rising input costs, labour disputes, significant infrastructure constraints and other regulatory issues in some of the key sectors.
“Today’s figures provide further evidence that local economic performance is still well below potential. However, we anticipate that the Reserve Bank will tighten policy gradually by a cumulative 50 basis points over the next few months as inflation rises above the target range,” said Nedbank.
According to the report, youth continued to be vulnerable in the labour market, although their level of educational attainment has improved over 2008 to 2014. “In the first quarter of 2014 the unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 34 was 36.1%, which is 3.4% higher than in the first quarter of 2008,” it said
