Provincially, the number of employed persons increased in five provinces between Q3: 2022 and Q4: 2022.<\/p>\n
Large employment increases were recorded in Western Cape (+167,000), North West (+23,000), Eastern Cape (+20,000) and Northern Cape (+12,000).<\/p>\n
Employment losses were recorded in Limpopo (-20,000), Gauteng (-18,000), Mpumalanga (-13,000) and Free State (-3,000) during the same period.<\/p>\n
Western Cape recorded the biggest quarter-to-quarter change in employment with an increase of 6.9%.<\/p>\n
Compared to Q4: 2021, the largest increases in employment were recorded in Gauteng (+381,000), Western Cape (+333,000), Mpumalanga (+134,000), Limpopo (+133,000) and Eastern Cape (+132,000).<\/p>\n
Northern Cape had the biggest year-on-year percentage change in employment with an increase of 27.0%, followed by Western Cape and Mpumalanga with increases of 14.7% and 12.7%, respectively.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Provinces-data.png\")
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Looking at the extended definition of unemployment, however, the situation is much worse.<\/p>\n
The Western Cape is the only province with an unemployment rate still below 30%, with all other provinces sitting with between 39% and 52% of their adult populations without work or not seeking work.<\/p>\n
One province – the North West – has more adults out of work and not looking, than people who are employed<\/strong>, with an unemployment rate of 52.3%. This is closely followed by Limpopo province, which just missed the halfway mark at 49.6%.<\/p>\n According to banking group, Absa, the Q4 unemployment data shows a further recovery in employment for South Africa but cautioned that some of the progress likely reflects seasonal effects.<\/p>\n Prospects for employment for the year ahead are also bleak, with the bank expecting a slowdown in the pace of job growth in the face of weaker economic growth.<\/p>\n The South African Reserve Bank expects GDP growth to register a paltry 0.3% for 2023, with even the most optimistic projections from analysts barely scraping past 1.0%.<\/p>\n Economists at Nedbank noted that employment levels are still at the same levels seen in 2016.<\/p>\n For the whole of 2022, about 1.4 million jobs were created after 479,000 were lost in 2021, the group said.<\/p>\n “Even so, the rate of job creation was contained by the multiple shocks experienced during the year, which depressed business confidence and forced companies to restructure their operations – including cancelling or postponing capital expenditure plans and laying off workers,” it said.<\/p>\n “The good news is that total employment continued to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 disaster – even though the number of jobs created is still below the pre-crisis levels.”<\/p>\n Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop said that despite the marginal improvement in unemployment in the fourth quarter, consumers remain constrained.<\/p>\n “Real incomes have declined, while the indebted are having to contend with markedly higher interest rates. A significant pick up in confidence is imperative to drive sustainable growth and accordingly job creation,” she said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Employment-provinces-Q4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Unemployment-by-province.png\")
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