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South Africa’s unemployment rate decreased in Q4 2018
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.
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.
