Unemployment Rate Decreases to 32.1% From 33.5%, but SA Is Still Not Pleased

• Statistics South Africa released its Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for 2024's third quarter
• Statistics SA revealed that 294,000 more people were employed in the third quarter, and there was a 1.4% decrease in the unemployment rate
• South Africans questioned the number, and many believed that the figures were manipulated
• Briefly News spoke to Dr Kenneth Creamer, an economist from Wits University, about the stats

Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated Briefly News current affairs journalist, contributed coverage of international and local social issues like health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests and heritage in South Africa during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

JOHANNESBURG — StatsSA's recent unemployment figures pointed to a slight decrease in the country's unemployment rate.

Unemployment rate decrease

According to Stats SA, the number of employed people increased by 294,000 to 16.9 million, and the number of unemployed people decreased by 373,000. This means eight million people are now jobless. The number of discouraged workers also increased by 160,000, and 214,000 more people stopped being economically active.

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The formal sector employed 122,000 more people than in the previous quarter, and the informal sector employed 165,000 more. The community and social services and construction sectors employed the most, and the Eastern Cape created more jobs than the Western Cape, North West, and other provinces. Although youth unemployment decreased by 171,000, the number of unemployed youth is still staggeringly high at 4.8 million.

Wits University economist speaks to Briefly News

Dr Kenneth Creamer, an economist from Wits University, told Briefly News that it's important for South Africans that the level of unemployment should be reduced in a sustained manner. He said it is only through a prolonged period of elevated economic growth and investment that sufficient numbers of new job opportunities will open up, particularly for young people.

"If South Africans in the private and public sectors can continue to keep their focus on economic growth and on building the South African economy, then it is to be expected that employment figures will continue to improve in the months ahead," he pointed out.

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"Structural unemployment is the greatest driver of ongoing income inequality in South Africa. As more people find employment, this can help to reduce income inequality, particularly if the economy is able to create relatively high productivity jobs with decent conditions and wages."

South Africans question the figures

Netizens commenting on @eNCA's tweet were in disbelief.

View the tweet here:

African said:

"Cooked numbers. I know a lot of people lost their jobs recently due to retrenchment."

Gemini said:

"Discouraged work seekers also increase in numbers technically is an increase in unemployment."

Lunchbar said:

"At 32.1% is still the highest in the world."

Banothile said:

"People are still unemployed in numbers, but the unemployment rate declines."

Bhojabhoja said:

"Crazy how these stats will change for the better, but when you look around you, you see nobody who was recently unemployed."

Man's skit highlights unemployment reality

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In a related article, Briefly News reported that a TikTok creator shared a video that highlighted the severity of unemployment.

His skit illustrated how certain company employees sabotaged people's job opportunities by discarding their CVs in favour of candidates they had a personal affiliation with.

Source: Briefly News