
7,9 million people were unemployed in South Africa in the first quarter of this year.
Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) has released the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), which show an increase of 0,2 of a percentage point compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.
They revealed that SA’s official unemployment rate stands at 32,9% and there were 179 000 more people who were unemployed in Q1:2023 than in Q4:2022.
There were 7.933 million unemployed persons in the period from January to March, up from 7.753 million in the final three months of 2022.
Kaya Biz with Guguglethu Mfuphi spoke to Risenga Maluleke – Statistician-General, Stats SA about what the stats mean.
LISTEN TO THE FULL CONVERSATION HERE:
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According to StatsSA, in the first quarter of 2023, 4,9% of employed persons were in time-related underemployment.
“The highest time-related underemployment rate of 5,9%, Black Africans remain vulnerable in the SA labour market as they desire to work more hours.
“Indian/Asian and White population groups have the lowest time-related underemployment rates (0,9% each). The only decrease in time-related underemployment was recorded among the Indian/Asian population group (1,7 percentage points).”

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