This graphic shows the shocking state of employment in South Africa

New data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows how bad the levels of unemployment are in South Africa.
According to the data, which was presented at the group’s 2016 Employment and Labour Ministerial meeting, South Africa has the highest unemployment rate out of all countries reviewed.
Over 40 million people are unemployed in the OECD region, with the regional average being 6.7% of the civilian labour force.
South Africa, however, has an unemployment rate almost four times the average at 25.4%. The only countries that come close are Greece (24.7%) and Spain (21.8%).

Unemployment in South Africa vs the world
The rate of unemployment across the OECD nations has climbed significantly since the 2007/08 global economic crisis, with 8 million more people without jobs.
More than one in three of the unemployed have been out of work for a year or more – that is 13.3 million people – and the size of this group has increased by 55% since 2007, the group said.
In South Africa, 65% of unemployed people have been without a job for over a year, and 34.5% of South Africa’s youth remain out of work and out of education – also the highest rate out of all countries assessed.
South Africa also has low rates of employed women at 50.9% of the female population aged 25 – 54 (OECD average: 67.4%) as well as low rates of older people employed at 39.8% of the 55 – 64 age group (OECD average: 58.2%).
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