Unemployment and expanded unemployment rates have decreased marginally during Quarter 4 (Q4).
This is according to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) results released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Tuesday.
“The… changes in employment and unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate decreasing by 0.2 of a percentage point from 32.9% in the third quarter of 2022 to 32.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022.
“The unemployment rate according to the expanded definition of unemployment also decreased by 0.5 of a percentage point to 42.6% in Q4:2022 [the fourth quarter] compared to Q3:2022 [the third quarter],” Stats SA said.
The institution explained there were employment gains for youth (those aged between 15 and 34 years old) during the period under review, this group remains “vulnerable in the labour market” with an unemployment rate of some 45.3%.
“The total number of unemployed youth increased by 46 000 to 4.6 million in Q4:2022. There was an increase of 86 000 in the number of employed youth during the same period. The increase in employment and the decrease in unemployment among the youth resulted in a decrease in the youth unemployment rate by 0.2 of a percentage point,” Stats SA said.
Stats SA indicated that despite difficult economic conditions, South Africans who gained employment, outstripped those who became unemployed.
“The results indicate that 169 000 jobs were gained between the third quarter of 2022 and the fourth quarter of 2022. The total number of persons employed was 15.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. The number of unemployed persons increased by 28 000 to 7.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.
“The number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 95 000 to 13.4 million and the discouraged work-seekers decreased by 151 000 in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter resulting in a net decrease of 57 000 in the not economically active population,” Stats SA said.
Sectors leading employment gains were those in finance, private households, trade and transport while jobs were lost in community and social services, agriculture and construction.
“The formal sector recorded an increase in employment of 143 000 and the Informal sector recorded a loss in employment of 15 000 between the third quarter and fourth quarter of 2022,” the institution said.
Source: South African Government News Agency