The results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey indicate that the number of employed individuals increased by 399 000 to 16.7 million in the third quarter of this year compared with 16.3 million in the second quarter.
In the same quarter, the number of unemployed people decreased by 72 000 to 7.8 million.
“Additionally, the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 160 000 to 13.1 million, while the discouraged work-seekers decreased by 26 000 in the third quarter of 2023 compared with the second quarter of 2023. This resulted in a nett decrease of 186 000 in the not economically active population,” Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday.
The changes in employment and unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate decreasing by 0.7 of a percentage point from 32.6% in the second quarter of 2023 to 31.9% in the third quarter.
The unemployment rate, according to the expanded definition, decreased by 0.9 of a percentage point to 41.2% compared with quarter 2 of 2023. Formal sector employment increased by 287 000 and informal sector employment increased by 29 000 over the same period.
Industries that recorded the most job increases included finance (up 237 000), community and social services (up 119 000) and agriculture (up 61 000).
Employment losses were recorded in manufacturing (down 50 000), mining (down 35 000), transport (down 20 000) and utilities (down 16 000).
Employment increases were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal (up 152 000), Limpopo (up 70 000), North West (up 61 000) and Mpumalanga (up 44 000), representing the largest employment increases in quarter 3 of 2023.
Employment losses were only recorded in Free State, which shed 3 000) jobs.
“The youth remain vulnerable in the labour market, however the third quarter of 2023 results show that the total number of unemployed youth (15-34 years) decreased by 174 000 to 4.6 million while there was an increase of 237 000 in the number of employed youth to 6.0 million.
“This resulted in a decrease in the youth unemployment rate by 1.9 percentage points, from 45.3% in quarter 2 of 2023 to 43.4% in quarter 3 of 2023,” Stats SA said. – SAnews.gov.za
