Durban — The decrease in the latest unemployment rate of the second quarter of the year has been regarded as good news. Independent economic analyst Professor Bonke Dumisa said the figures were relatively encouraging.
This is after the statistician-general of Statistics South Africa, Risenga Maluleke, presented the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) results for the second quarter of 2023.
Maluleke said the unemployment rate decreased by 0.3% from 32.9% in the first quarter of 2023 to 32.6% in the second quarter of the year, with KwaZulu-Natal being one of the provinces that recorded the highest employment number.
Professor Dumisa said despite the high levels of load shedding the country was able to achieve such results. However, he said there should be measures put in place to try and address unemployment because it was still high. He said the scandals that keep popping out in KZN, especially at eThekwini about service delivery have a negative impact on the economy. “We are losing out on the tourism sector because of the scandals,” he said.
Economic strategist Gugulethu Xaba said the country needs more employment opportunities, especially for the youth. He said the decrease in unemployment was good news. “We welcome the latest numbers and small businesses should also be given space to work,” said Xaba.
Maluleke said the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 93 000 to 13.3 million. “The discouraged work-seekers decreased by 94 000 in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2023 resulting in a net decrease of 1 000 in the not economically active population,” he said.
He said the formal sector employment increased by 143 000 in Q2: 2023 and informal sector employment decreased by 33 000 over the same period.
He added that these industries which are Construction (104 000), Trade (92 000), and Community and Social Services (63 000) recorded the largest employment gains. While employment losses were recorded in Manufacturing (96 000), Finance (68 000), Transport (7 000) and Utilities (6 000).
“Limpopo (up by 80 000), Western Cape (up by 54 000) and KwaZulu-Natal (up by 48 000) recorded the largest employment increases in Q2:2023. Employment losses were recorded in the Free State (down by 59 000) and Northern Cape (down by 17 000) during the same period,” said Maluleke.
He added that the youth remained vulnerable in the labour market, with the second quarter of 2023 results showing that the total number of unemployed youth (15-34 years) decreased by 131 000 to 4.7 million while there was an increase of 105 000 in the number of employed youth to 5.7 million during the same period. This resulted in a decrease in youth unemployment rate by 1.1 percentage points to 45.3% in Q2:2023.
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