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According to Stats SA, the unemployment rate among the black population remains higher than the national average and other population groups. The latest Stats SA data showed the number of unemployed people increased by 0.2% or 179,000 to 7.9 million during the first quarter of 2023
According to Stats SA, the unemployment rate among the black population remains higher than the national average and other population groups. The latest Stats SA data showed the number of unemployed people increased by 0.2% or 179,000 to 7.9 million during the first quarter of 2023.
The number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 209,000 to 13.2 million. The data also revealed that discouraged work-seekers decreased by 87,000 in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. The number of “not economically active” looking for jobs decreased by 296,000 in the first quarter.
While the unemployment rate may be high, Stats SA said there was also an increase in time-related underemployment, which refers to people in employment who wanted to work additional hours, worked less than a specified hours threshold (working time in all jobs), and was available to work additional hours given an opportunity for more work. Stats South Africa defines time-related underemployment as people who worked less than 35 hours in the reference week and were available to work additional hours.
In the first quarter of 2023, 4.9% of employed people were in time-related underemployment. This is consistent with underemployment recorded in the first quarter of 2020 pre-Covid-19 with a slight increase of 0.2 of a percentage point over these years. The prevalence of underemployment increased during Covid-19, from 4.7% in the first quarter of 2020 to 5.2% in the first quarter of 2021, followed by a significant increase in the proportion of people affected by time-related underemployment in the first quarter of 2022 at 5.6%.The formal and informal sectors recorded increases in employment of 209,000 and 107,000, respectively.
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The finance (184,000), community and social services (175,000), and agriculture (27,000) sectors had the largest employment gains. Compared to the same period last year, an increase of 1.3-million in total employment in the first quarter of 2022 was largely due to increases in the number of people employed in community and social services (357,000), finance (335,000), trade (275 000) and construction (128 000). Employment losses were recorded in private households (85,000), trade (28,000), mining (24,000), construction (11,000) and manufacturing (2,000).
