By 2014 the black African unemployment rate based on the expanded definition had declined from 43% to 40%, but this is of no comfort to the additional 3.1 million black African workforce unemployed, Stats SA said.<\/p>\n
In 2014 the numbers of unemployed and the corresponding unemployment rates for educational\u00a0 levels were: less than matric 3 904 489 or 40%; matric 710 622 or 28%; and tertiary 70 650 or 6%.<\/p>\n \u201cNot many would have predicted such an outcome for the post-apartheid period when access to the labour market, at least for those with skills, should have been easier after so many decades of racial exclusion.”<\/p>\n “The trend raises serious questions about the quality and\/or appropriateness of tertiary education and reinforces the findings made above regarding skills development,” Stats SA said.<\/p>\n Overall landscape<\/strong><\/p>\n Overall, the fastest-growing group in total employment in SA is the black African population, both in absolute and relative terms.<\/p>\n The black African population made up 63.2% of total employment in 1994 and 72.8% in 2014, an increase of 9.6 percentage points.<\/p>\n All other population groups declined as a proportion of total employment, with the largest decline evident in the white population, down 7.3 percentage points.<\/p>\n Skill workers<\/strong><\/p>\n StatsSA showed that in the first quarter of 2014, approximately 25% of South African workers were in a skilled occupation, namely managers, professionals and technicians. This was an increase from 21% in 1994.<\/p>\n However, a higher percentage (46%) were still in semi-skilled occupations (e.g., clerks, craft and related trades, and machine operators) in 2014, a slight decrease from 47% in 1994; and 29% were in low-skilled occupations (elementary jobs and domestic work), down from 32% in 1994.<\/p>\n Employment composition by skills<\/p><\/div>\n There were substantial shifts towards skilled work among white and Indian\/Asian populations, with the proportion of skilled workers increasing from 42% in 1994 to 61% in 2014 among the white workforce, and an increase among the Indian\/Asian workforce from 25% to 51% over the same period.<\/p>\n The proportion of semi-skilled workers within the white workforce decreased from 55% in 1994 to 36% in 2014. Only 3% of white workers occupied low-skilled occupations in both 1994 and 2014, Stats SA said.<\/p>\n The black African workforce showed only a slight movement towards skilled occupations, but a more substantial movement towards semi-skilled occupations.<\/p>\n In 1994, 15% of black African workers occupied skilled jobs, increasing to only 18% in 2014. Over the same period the proportion of black African workers in semi-skilled occupations increased from 42% to 48%.<\/p>\n Apartheid legacy keeps black youth unemployed<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n SA university entrant skills at Grade 5 level<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n South Africa\u2019s critical skills shortage<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![\"Unemployment](\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Unemployment-by-population-group.png\")
<\/a>The stats body noted education as an important determinant of unemployment in both 1994 and 2014.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n\u201cPossibly of most concern is the increase in the unemployment rate for black Africans with tertiary education. It more than doubled, from 8% to 19%,\u201d Stats SA said.<\/p>\n<\/a>More on skills in SA<\/h3>\n