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Unemployment in South Africa marks highest jump since 2008

WION
Johannesburg, South AfricaWritten By: Kalden OngmuUpdated: Feb 23, 2021, 06:33 PM IST
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Photograph:(Reuters)

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South Africa’s official unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2020 further jumped to 32.5 per cent - the highest since the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) in 2008

South Africa’s official unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2020 further jumped to 32.5 per cent - the highest since the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) in 2008.

The number of unemployed people in South Africa increased by 701 000 to 7.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 as compared with the third quarter of the same year, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) revealed. 

In total, there were 333 000 job gains to 15 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. The largest job gains were made in the formal sector (up 189 000), followed by private households (up 76 000), the informal sector (up 65 000) and the agriculture sector (up 2 000), the statistics showed.

Stats SA, however, highlighted that the movement to unemployment outweighed that of employment.

Unemployment was mostly concentrated among youth - those aged between 15 and 24 years with a rate of 63.2 per cent - and with those aged between 25 and 34, with a rate of 41.2 per cent respectively, it said. 

Stats SA also highlighted that unemployment is higher among black Africans (36.5 per cent), compared to other population groups. Black African women are the most vulnerable, with an unemployment rate of 38.5 per cent.