Cape Town - While over 200 000 jobs were gained in quarter three, as announced in the Statistics SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) on Tuesday, economic role-players have cautioned that the economy was simply not growing at an adequate rate to boost sustainable long-term employment.
The survey showed that 204 000 jobs were created between the second and third quarters of 2022, bringing the total number of persons employed to 15.8 million by the third quarter.
The number of unemployed persons decreased by 269 000 to 7.7 million, while discouraged work-seekers also decreased by 54 000 to 3.5 million in the third quarter of 2022, compared to the previous quarter.
The number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 264 000.
“The above changes in employment and unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate decreasing by 1.0 percentage point, from 33.9% in the second quarter of 2022, to 32.9% in the third quarter of 2022.
“The unemployment rate also decreased by 1.0 percentage point to 43.1% in Q3:2022 compared to Q2:2022,” StatsSA said.
Industries which showed the most growth included manufacturing (123 000), trade (82 000), construction (46 000) and transport (33 000), while job losses were recorded in finance (80 000), private households (36 000) and mining and agriculture (1 000) each.
Sectors that recorded job rises were the formal and informal, with 235 000 and 6 000 respectively.
“The third quarter results continue to show that the youth remain vulnerable in the labour market, with an unemployment rate of 45.5%,” Stats SA said.
Anchor Capital Investment analyst Casey Delport said the QLFS data was difficult to interpret over recent quarters due to technical factors related to data collection, with face-to-face interviews only resuming recently.
“Whilst any drop in South Africa’s unemployment rate would usually be a cause for celebration, we, unfortunately, do not put much stock in the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) print, released on November 29,” she said.
“Regardless of the exact data print, the local economy continues to grow at less than 2% p.a. Thus, the SA economy is simply not growing at an adequate rate to sustainably boost long-term employment prospects for South Africans.”
GOOD secretary-general and MP Brett Herron added that the country’s “stubbornly high unemployment rate” was a reminder that millions of people would not be lifted out of poverty any time soon -- and needed urgent support in the short term.
“Despite also falling by 1 percentage point, the ‘real’ or expanded unemployment rate, which includes those people who have given up looking for jobs, stands at 43.1%. This means over 11 million people, 7.7 million unemployed and 3.5 million discouraged work-seekers, are currently without a job and proper income -- a situation many of us can’t even begin to imagine being in.”
Herron said while the reality was unacceptable, it was impossible to change in the short term, “as our economy is not creating enough jobs to lift South Africans out of poverty”.
Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said he welcomed Cape Town’s 3.2% drop in unemployment.
“I am very pleased to see that unemployment has decreased in Cape Town by 3.2% this quarter. Cape Town’s unemployment now stands at 26.8% (29.5% on the expanded definition). While the downward trend in unemployment is a signal that Cape Town’s future looks bright, there is still work to be done. Poverty affects everyone; if we want to build a better future for ourselves and our children, we have to address the high levels of poverty in our society.”
He said their answer to ending poverty was growth driven by the private sector.
Cape Times