Cabinet has welcomed the slight decline in South Africa's unemployment rate.

This comes after figures in the second 2022 Quarterly Labour Force Survey, released by Statistics South Africa, this week revealed that unemployment in the country decreased by 0.6 percent, from 34.5% in the first quarter to 33.9 % between April and June.

In a statement, following its meeting on Wednesday, Cabinet said the modest yet impressive gains show that the concerted efforts by government and its social partners to grow the economy and create much-needed jobs are beginning to bear fruit.

The QLFS indicated that the biggest job gains were recorded in Community and Social Services (276 000), Trade (169 000), Finance (128 000) and Construction (104 000).

The total number of employed persons stood at 15.6 million in the second quarter of 2022, and the number of unemployed persons increased by 132 000 to 8.0 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter.

“This is a testament to the fact that if we all work together by harnessing our collective strengths, we can overcome the challenges facing our economy,” said Cabinet.

Cabinet further added that it understands the frustrations of South Africans as they struggle to go about their daily lives owing to the cost of living and high unemployment rate.

“As a caring government, we remain determined and committed to working together with our social partners to build a better tomorrow for everyone. Government remains committed to supporting local businesses by buying local goods and services.”

Source: South African Government News Agency