Unemployment Rate Decreases to 31.9% in Third Quarter, South Africans Furious: “This Is a Joke”
- The unemployment rate in the country went down by 0.7% to 31.9%, according to the latest labour statistics
- This meant that 500,000 more people were employed in the third quarter
- South Africans were unimpressed with the stats and cried that unemployment is still a severe issue in the country
Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated current affairs journalist, contributed coverage of social problems in South Africa during his X years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.
Source: Getty Images
The latest unemployment statistics have been released, and some light might be at the end of the tunnel. The unemployment rate decreased to 31.9%, meaning more people were employed in the third quarter than in the second quarter. South Africans do not believe that the statistics reflect the reality of unemployment in the country.
Unemployment rate decreases
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According to eNCA, the statistics reflect that the number of employed people rose from 16.3 million to 16.8 million. The statistics also revealed increased employment in the community and social services, construction, agriculture and finance services.
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The mining, transport, utilities and the manufacturing sector saw decreased employment. The country has been gripped by a crippling unemployment epidemic which sees more than three-quarters of the youth sitting without jobs. Scores of jobs were lost during the pandemic, and millions remain unemployed, struggling to make ends meet.
South Africans doubt the stats
Netizens who commented on Facebook were unimpressed by the statistics.
Hilton Kemp said:
“You can’t believe anything that's connected to the ANC.”
Gracia Ramohlola complained:
“This is a joke with such a huge unemployment rate.”
Ofentse Jbulani did not believe the stats.
“We’re heading to the elections. All manner of lies will be reported.”
ShowTibz Love asked:
“Are we supposed to celebrate such mediocrity?”
Tumelo Podile was grim.
“You mean people who are in fixed-term contracts?”
Songezo Madevana was fuming.
“Because of this nonsense of criteria you are using, that is how you came up with that percentage. People have been discouraged from applying for jobs because no jobs are available.”
The unemployment rate was 32.9% in the first quarter
In a similar article, Briefly News reported that the unemployment rate was 32.9% in the year's first quarter.
StatisticsSA revealed that over 240000 young people were looking for jobs, and a dizzying number were unemployed.
South Africans lamented the conditions and pointed out that unemployment is a ticking time bomb.
Source: Briefly News
