South Africa’s official unemployment rate dropped by 1.4 percentage points, falling from 33.5% in the second quarter to 32.1% in the third quarter of 2024, according to Statistics South Africa’s (Stats SA) latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS).
Employment levels increased by 294,000 people, bringing the total employed population to 16.9 million. Simultaneously, the number of unemployed individuals decreased by 373,000 to reach 8.0 million. Overall, this led to a 79,000 reduction in the labour force, down by 0.3% from the previous quarter.
The report also noted a rise in discouraged work-seekers, who increased by 160,000, marking a 5% rise. Additionally, those not economically active due to reasons other than discouragement grew by 54,000 (up by 0.4%), resulting in a 214,000 increase in the non-economically active population, now totalling 16.5 million.
Stats SA further reported a decrease in the expanded unemployment rate, which fell by 0.7 percentage points to 41.9% in the third quarter. Employment gains were seen across both the formal sector, which added 122,000 jobs, and the informal sector, which grew by 165,000 jobs during the quarter.
Sectors showing the highest job growth included community and social services (+194,000), construction (+176,000), and trade (+109,000). However, there were declines in employment within finance (-189,000), private households (-32,000), manufacturing (-20,000), and transport (-18,000).
Regionally, employment gains were notable in the Eastern Cape (+83,000), Western Cape (+75,000), North West (+69,000), and Mpumalanga (+49,000), while employment fell in Gauteng (-66,000) and KwaZulu-Natal (-2,000).
Youth unemployment remains a pressing issue, with the third-quarter results showing that unemployed youth (aged 15-34) decreased by 171,000, totalling 4.8 million. Meanwhile, employed youth rose by 66,000, reaching 5.8 million. The youth unemployment rate consequently fell from 46.6% to 45.5%.
These figures highlight some positive trends in South Africa’s labour market, though challenges persist, particularly for young job-seekers. Stats SA’s next report will continue to shed light on employment dynamics across the country as it heads into 2025.
