AT LEAST 204 000 jobs were gained between the second quarter of 2022 and the third quarter of 2022, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said on Tuesday while releasing the Quarterly Labour Force Survey.
The total number of persons employed was 15,8 million in the third quarter of 2022.
The number of unemployed persons decreased by 269 000 to 7.7 million while discouraged work-seekers also decreased by 54 000 to 3.5 million in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter.
But Maluleke said the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 264 000 between the two quarters, resulting in a net increase of 210 000 in the not economically active population.
“The above changes in employment and unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate decreasing by 1,0 percentage point from 33,9% in the second quarter of 2022 to 32,9% in the third quarter of 2022,” Maluleke said.
The following industries Manufacturing (123 000), Trade (82 000), Construction (46 000) and Transport (33 000) recorded the largest job gains, while job losses were recorded in Finance (80 000), Private households (36 000) and Mining and Agriculture (1 000) each.
Sectors that recorded job increases were the formal and informal with 235 000 and 6 000 respectively.
The third quarter of 2022 results continue to show that the youth (aged 15-34 years) remain vulnerable in the labour market with an unemployment rate of 45,5%.
The total number of unemployed youth decreased by 182 000 to 4,6 million in the third quarter of 2022.
There was an increase of 25 000 in the number of employed youth during the same period.
The increase in employment and the decrease in unemployment among the youth resulted in a decrease in the youth unemployment rate by 1,0 percentage point.
COSATU parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks said it was positive news but was he quick to say this is no reason to celebrate because unemployment is still very high in the country at 43%.
“In total this year alone, unemployment has fallen by 3% cumulatively. Unemployment is still a ticking time bomb in society. There is positive recovery after COVID but there is much more work to do and let’s intensify our efforts,” he said.
Parks dismissed an assertion by some in the business community who believe that a push by trade unions to demand more wages resulted in a reluctance to invest.
He said load shedding was responsible for the high number of unemployment, and every level of load shedding costs the economy a billion rand.
“If the government can fix Eskom, stop cable theft and rebuild Metrorail, more actions to improve municipalities are needed, and solve tax evasion,” Parks said, adding youth unemployment is a huge challenge.
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