According to data published on Tuesday by the country’s national statistics agency, South Africa’s official unemployment rate rose from 32.9% in the first quarter to 33.5% in the second quarter of this year.
Employment fell to 16.7 million in the second quarter, while the number of unemployed rose by 158,000 to 8.4 million, according to the report.
Stats South Africa said 137,000 more people, or 0.3%, entered the labour market in the three months compared to the first quarter.
On a yearly basis, unemployment rose by 0.9 percentage points from 32.6% in the second quarter to 2023.
33.5% is the highest rate since unemployment reached 33.9% in the second quarter of 2022.
When compared with the first quarter of 2024, the extended unemployment rate – which includes people who have given up looking for work – rose by 0.7 percentage points to 42.6% between April and June.
In the second quarter, formal sector employment fell in trade (118,000), finance (24,000), construction (15,000), mining (10,000) and transport (1,000), compared to the first quarter. Increases were recorded, however, in manufacturing (41,000), social and community services (37,000) and utilities (8,000).
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Over the previous year, there was a net gain of 138,000 jobs in the formal sector, mainly thanks to finance (292,000) and manufacturing (59,000).
Employment in the agricultural sector fell by 45,000 in the second quarter, while employment in private households fell by 18,000.
Informal sector employment rose by 48,000, thanks to gains in finance (15,000) and mining (13,000).
