South Africa’s official unemployment rate declined slightly to 31.9 percent in the last three months of 2024, down from 32.1 percent in the previous quarter, according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa on Tuesday.
Overall, the survey results indicated an increase of 132,000 in the number of employed persons, bringing the total employment to 17.1 million during the period from October to December 2024.
Employment in the formal sector saw an increase of 90,000 jobs, while the informal sector added 34,000 jobs during the same period.
The finance sector recorded the largest increase in employment with 232,000 new jobs, followed by manufacturing with 41,000 jobs.
Conversely, the community and social services sector experienced a decrease of 63,000 jobs, trade lost 48,000 jobs, construction saw a decline of 22,000 jobs, mining decreased by 18,000 jobs, utilities lost 17,000 jobs, and agriculture saw a reduction of 11,000 jobs.
Regionally, the largest increases in employment were observed in Western Cape province with 62,000 new jobs, KwaZulu-Natal with 52,000 jobs and Gauteng with 45,000 jobs.
Decreases in employment were, however, recorded in Free State (25,000 jobs), North West (20,000 jobs) and Limpopo (16,000 jobs) provinces.
However, despite the decrease in the official unemployment rate, the country’s youth continue to face significant challenges in the labour market.
The survey revealed that 4.7 million young people, aged between 15 and 34 years, remain unemployed during the fourth quarter of 2024.
This was a decrease of 133,000 compared to the previous quarter, while the number of employed youth increased by 37,000 to 5.8 million.
As a result, the youth unemployment rate dropped from 45.5 percent in the third quarter of 2024 to 44.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024.
JN/APA