South Africa’s unemployment rate dropped in the final quarter of 2018, Statistics South Africa announced on Tuesday in its Quarterly Labour Force Survey results.
The rate decreased from 27.5% in Q3 2018 to 27.1% in Q4 2018, after an additional 70 000 citizens found employment during this period.
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In total, 16.5-million South Africans are currently employed.
While this is a small win that should be celebrated, there are a multitude of negatives that should be highlighted.
For one, this means that 6.1-million people remained unemployed in South Africa in Q4 2018.
Additionally, the youth unemployment rate — specifically looking at those aged between 15 and 24 years of age — increased by 1.9% quarter over quarter. 54.7% of South Africans within this age group are now without work.
Notably, the situation grows bleaker with fewer education qualifications.
88% of those who’ve graduated from Matric are now unemployed (although this number has decreased by 1.4% over Q3 2018).
32% of South Africans who don’t finish Matric are unemployed, with that figure increasing by 0.1% over Q4 2018.
For university graduates, an additional 0.2% who’ve completed their studies were unemployed in Q4 2018, pushing the total to 6.7%.
For those who do find jobs, opportunities are present in the “finance sector”. This sector saw the biggest job gains — specifically relating to “computer” activities — with more than 100 000 more jobs created since Q4 2017.
Read Stats SA’s full report here.
