Stats SA: Unemployment rate drops despite 2,2 million job cuts

POLOKWANE – Statistics South Africa says according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey Quarter 2: 2020 results, the South African economy shed 2,2 million jobs in the second quarter of the year.

Stats SA explained that the number of employed persons decreased by 2,2 million to 14,1 million in the second quarter, compared to the first quarter.

“This unprecedented change is the largest quarter 1 to quarter 2 decline since the survey began in 2008. Contrary to what one would expect in the face of such a large decline in employment, the number of unemployed persons declined substantially as well – by 2,8 million – to 4,3 million compared to quarter 1 of 2020,” a statement reads.

Another decrease was noted in the number of discouraged work-seekers, which decreased by 447 000. “The majority of those who moved out of these three categories moved into the category of not economically active for reasons other than discouragement, which increased by 5,6 million between the two quarters,” the department added.

According to the department, the official unemployment rate is calculated using the number of persons who are employed and unemployed, and does not include discouraged work seekers. This significant change in the number of people in these two categories resulted in a decrease of 6,8 percentage points in the official unemployment rate from 30,1% in the first quarter to 23,3% in the second quarter.

“This is the lowest rate recorded since quarter 3:2009. The expanded unemployment rate however increased by 2,3 percentage points in Q2:2020 compared to Q1:2020, reflective of the fact that people were available for work but did not actively look for work. The unemployment rate according to the expanded definition increased in all provinces except in the Free State, where it decreased by 3,3 percentage points. The largest increase was recorded in the Northern Cape (up by 5,1 percentage points), followed by the Eastern Cape (up by 3,9 percentage points),” the department explained.

They noted that when these people were asked why they did not seek work, that most people cited the national lockdown and coronavirus as reasons.

The statement added: “Of the 14,2 million persons who were employed in Q2: 2020, more than half (58,1%) were expected to work during the national lockdown by the companies/organisations they work for. There were 173 000 employed persons who were expected to work during the national lockdown but could not do any work during that period. About 76,3% cited the national lockdown as the main reason for not actually working while the rest indicated that they did not work due to health reasons (10,2%); family responsibility (3,5%); or shift work arrangements (10,0%).”