Stats SA’s latest data reveals the full extent of South Africa’s unemployment bloodbath in Q2 2024. An election year is always going to be potentially disruptive for South Africa’s unemployment rate, but the outgoing African National Congress have dropped the employment ball big time. This now leaves an even taller mountain to climb for the newly elected Government of National Unity (GNU), reports Business Tech.
SOUTH AFRICA’S UNEMPLOYMENT BLOODBATH Q2 2024
- The official unemployment rate is up to 33.5% (Q2 2024), which represents a 0.6% increase from 32.9% (Q1 2024).
- Likewise, the expanded unemployment rate now sits at 42.6% (Q2 2024), which is an increase of 0.7%.
- 92 000 less people had jobs in Q2 2024, lowering the total number of employed residents to 16.7 million.
- Discouraged work seekers increased by 4.8%, which is an additional 147 000 citizens in Q2 2024.
- There’s an increase of 72 000 persons who are not economically active in South Africa. This figure now sits at 16.3 million (Q2 2024) and includes people not working and surviving solely on South African Social Security Agency grants.
- Employment in the formal sector decreased by 77 000 (Q2 2024), while informal sector employment increased by 48 000 over the same period.
WHAT ABOUT DIFFERENT SECTORS?
According to the stats, you can break South Africa’s job losses down per sector:
- Trade (111 000)
- Agriculture (45 000)
- Private households (18 000)
- Construction (11 000)
- Finance (9 000)
While the following sectors saw employment opportunities increase:
- Manufacturing (49 000)
- Community and social services (36 000)
- Utilities (9 000)
WOMEN AND YOUTH
Rather cruelly in Women’s Month, women in South Africa continue to have lower employment rates than men. The total number of unemployed women increased by 93 000 to 4.1 million (Q2 2024), which represents a 0.6% increase to 35.8% from 35.2% (Q1 2024).
Similarly, the youth and school-leavers, aged 18-24 continue to have the highest unemployment rate in South Africa at 60.8%. Not good signs for the future, with South Africa’s GDP expected to increase by 1% compared to 3% in the rest of Africa. Contributing to the fact that South Africa is now only fourth on the list for attractive investment destinations on the continent.
WHAT CAN GOVERNMENT DO TO CREATE MORE JOBS?
Let us know by clicking on the comment tab below or by emailing [email protected]. You can also send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Don’t forget to follow @TheSAnews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest social media updates.