By: Natasha Archary

Nearly 8 million South Africans are unemployed, with the unemployment rate in the country increasing to 32.1% int he 4th quarter of 2023.
The latest unemployment rate was released by Stats SA on Tuesday, 20 February indicating that the number of employed people decreased by 22 000 to 16.7 million compared to the third quarter of 2023.
There were 46 000 more people who lost their jobs in the 4th quarter, taking the number of unemployed people in South Africa to 7.9 million.
This was due to job losses in the Community and Social Services sector, as well as Construction, Agriculture, Trade and Manufacturing.
The most jobs lost were in the Eastern Cape at 111 000, followed by Limpopo with 40 000 jobs lost, the North West at 30 000, and the Northern Cape with 2 000 losses.
Meanwhile, KwaZulu-Natal employed 62 000 people, and was the province that had the highest increase in employment opportunities.
Stats SA shares that youth between the ages of 15 to 34-years remain the most vulnerable as youth unemployment increased further during the 4th quarter.
“The youth (15–34 years) remain vulnerable in the labour market; the fourth quarter of 2023 results show that the total number of unemployed youth increased by 87 000 to 4,7 million while there was a decrease of 97 000 in the number of employed youth to
5,9 million.This resulted in an increase in the youth unemployment rate by 0,9 of a percentage point from 43,4% in Q3: 2023 to 44,3% in Q4: 2023.”
[🧵]The official #unemployment rate stands at 32,1 %, an increase of 0,2 of a percentage point in Q4:2023 compared to Q3:2023.
Read more here: https://t.co/6a1YXpHL66#StatsSA pic.twitter.com/Dhqkq4vVKN
— Stats SA (@StatsSA) February 20, 2024
Listen to Statistician-General (SG) Risenga Maluleke on Kaya Biz:
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