The number of discouraged work-seekers decreased by 56,000 (1.4%) and the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 341,000 (2.4%) between the two quarters, Stats SA said.<\/p>\n
While both the unemployed and employed figures increased, the data shows that South Africa is simply not creating enough jobs for new entrants or to make up for existing losses.<\/p>\n
“These changes in the labour market resulted in the official unemployment rate increasing by 0.4 of a percentage point from 34.9% in the third quarter of 2021 to 35.3% in the fourth quarter of 2021 – the highest since the start of the QLFS in 2008,” Statistics South Africa said.<\/p>\n
“The unemployment rate according to the expanded definition of unemployment decreased by 0.4 of a percentage point to 46.2% in Q4 2021 compared to Q3 2021.”<\/p>\n
Notably, the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape recorded expanded unemployment rates above 50% in Q4 2021.<\/p>\n The formal sector in South Africa accounts for 67,2% of total employment.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Jobs-1.png\")
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