Des Erasmus
South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to 33.7% in the third quarter of 2026, despite the economy adding 101,000 jobs, as the number of people looking for work increased and employment remained below levels recorded a year earlier.
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) released its Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) on Tuesday, showing that the official unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points from 33.6% in the second quarter.
The number of unemployed South Africans rose by 97,000 to 8.58 million between July and September, while total employment increased to 16.84 million.
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Despite the quarterly increase in employment, South Africa had 215,000 fewer employed people than in the corresponding period of 2025, while the number of unemployed people was 571,000 higher.
“An increase in employment and unemployment resulted in an increase of 0,1 of a percentage point in the unemployment rate to 33,7% in the third quarter of 2026,” StatsSA said.
The figures showed that the labour force expanded by 198,000 people during the quarter, outpacing the number of additional jobs created.
The number of discouraged job-seekers, who were available for work but had stopped actively looking, increased by 70,000 to 3.74 million.
Stats SA said the increase in unemployment during the third quarter was unusual compared with recent years.
“Notably… this is the first increase in unemployment in the third quarter of the year since 2021.”
The measure combining unemployment, underemployment and the potential labour force remained unchanged at 46.3%, although it was 1.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
Finance sector leads job gains
Employment gains were concentrated in the formal sector, which added 268,000 jobs during the quarter.
But the informal sector lost 98,000 jobs, while employment in private households declined by 68,000.
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The finance industry, which includes insurance, real estate and business services, recorded the largest increase, adding 111,000 jobs.
Manufacturing gained 33,000 jobs, mining added 31,000 and community and social services increased employment by 20,000.
Agriculture shed 34,000 jobs, while construction lost 8,000.
The annual figures pointed to continued pressure on employment, with community and social services recording 197,000 fewer jobs than a year earlier, followed by private households, which lost 87,000 jobs.
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Finance was among the few industries to record annual growth, adding 132,000 jobs compared with the third quarter of 2025.
Eastern Cape records highest unemployment
The Eastern Cape continued to record the country’s highest official unemployment rate at 44.3%, despite a 3.2 percentage point improvement from the previous quarter.
The Free State followed at 39.1%, while North West recorded 38.1% and Mpumalanga 37.8%.
Gauteng’s unemployment rate increased by 1.1 percentage points to 35.7%, while KwaZulu-Natal recorded an increase of 0.8 percentage points to 33.3%.
The Western Cape maintained the lowest unemployment rate at 19.4%, down from 19.5% in the previous quarter.
“The largest increases were recorded in Free State (1,8 percentage points), followed by Northern Cape (1,3 percentage points) and Mpumalanga (1,2 percentage points),” StatsSA said.
Employment increased in seven provinces, with the Western Cape adding 48,000 jobs, North West 45,000 and the Eastern Cape 36,000.
The Free State and Mpumalanga recorded employment losses of 34,000 and 30,000 respectively.
More than a third of young people outside work and education
The survey also showed that 35.7% of South Africans aged 15 to 24 were neither employed nor enrolled in education or training, an increase of 1.8 percentage points from the corresponding quarter in 2025.
About 10.4 million South Africans fell within this age group.
The rate was higher among young women, at 37%, compared with 34.4% for young men.
South Africans without matric recorded an unemployment rate of 39.2%, compared with 11.9% among graduates.
The survey also showed that only 39.7% of South Africa’s working-age population was employed, compared with 40.7% a year earlier.
