The country’s unemployment rate decreased to 33.9% between April and June, the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for Q2: 2022 has revealed.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) released the figures on Tuesday.

These results indicate that 648 000 jobs were gained between the first quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2022.

Stats SA said the changes in employment and unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate decreasing by 0.6 of a percentage point from 34.5% in the first quarter of 2022 to 33.9% in the second quarter of 2022.

The unemployment rate according to the expanded definition of unemployment also decreased by 1.4 percentage points to 44.1 % in Q2:2022 compared to Q1:2022.

Releasing the QLFS, Statistician General Risenga Maluleke said the biggest job gains were recorded in Community and Social Services (276 000), Trade (169 000), Finance (128 000) and Construction (104 000).

He said: “However, there were job losses in Manufacturing (73 000) and Transport (54 000). The total number of persons employed was 15.6 million in the second quarter of 2022.

“The number of unemployed persons increased by 132 000 to 8.0 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter. The number of discouraged work-seekers decreased by 183 000 (4.9%) and the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 452 000 (3.3%) between the two quarters resulting in a net decrease of 635 000 in the not economically active population.”

Source: South African Government News Agency