Statistics South Africa has announced the official unemployment rate has increased by 0,5 of a percentage point from 34,4% in the second quarter of 2021 to 34,9% in the third quarter of 2021 – the highest since the start of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey in 2008.

The unemployment rate according to the expanded definition increased by 2,2 percentage points to 46,6%. This translates to a total of 12.5-million people who are unemployed.

The results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the third quarter of 2021 show that the number of employed persons decreased by 660 000 in the third quarter of 2021 to 14,3 million.

The number of unemployed persons decreased by 183 000 to 7,6 million compared to the second quarter of 2021.

The number of discouraged work-seekers increased by 545 000 (16,4%) and the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 443 000 (3,3%) between the two quarters resulting in a net increase of 988 000 in the not economically active population.

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