By Thebe Mabanga
South Africa suffered a jobs bloodbath in the first quarter of this year as the number of employed people fell by 345 000 to 16,8 million and 178 000 people gave up looking for work, bringing the number of discouraged work seekers to 3, 9 million.
These are some of the findings of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, which also found that there was an increase of 301 000 in the number of unemployed persons to 8,1 million, compared to the previous quarter.
The official unemployment rate rose by 1,3 percentage points from 31,4 % in the last quarter of 2025 to 32,7% in the first quarter of this year.
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This means that there was a decrease of 44 000 (or -0,2%) in the labour force over the first quarter.
The survey measures employment (demand side) and unemployment (supply side) of the labour market.
The number of persons employed in the formal sector decreased by 189 000 in the first quarter, while those employed in the informal sector fell by 127 000 over the same period.
Sectors that increased employment include manufacturing, which added 38 000 jobs, mining (32 000) and agriculture (10 000).
Sectors with the largest decline were community and social service which shed 206 000 jobs, followed by construction (110 000) and transport (30 000).
