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Over 8 million people were out of work, up from 5.2 million in 2014
South Africa is still in the grip of a massive unemployment trail, which has further worsened from Q12024. The country’s unemployment rate increased by 0.6 percentage points from 32.9% in Q1 2024 to 33.5% in Q2 2024, according to the government’s statistics office.
South Africa has been struggling to create jobs in recent years due to a long recession and most recently the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 8 million people were out of work, up from 5.2 million in 2014. The number of employed persons fell by 92,000 to 16.7 million in Q2 2024. The sectors that saw the most job decreases include trade, agriculture, and construction. Only manufacturing, social services, and utilities added jobs.
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The figures are the first to be released since the May elections which brought in a coalition government that put reviving the ailing economy top of its agenda. Unemployment was a key political issue in the vote, likely contributing to the loss of an absolute majority by the African National Congress (ANC). Regions that recorded a decrease in employment included the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.
