SA's unemployment rate decreases to 32.6% in Q2, however numbers are still shockingly high.

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GUEST – Risenga Maluleke – Stats SA’s Stastitician General

Stats SA announced today that the official unemployment rate was 32.6% in the second quarter of 2023 – a slight improvement from the first quarter.

The results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) indicate that the number of employed persons increased by 154,000 to 16.3 million in Q2 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2023. The number of unemployed persons decreased by 11,000 to 7.9 million during the same quarter. Additionally, the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 93,000 to 13.3 million.

The discouraged work-seekers decreased by 94,000 in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2023, resulting in a net decrease of 1,000 in the not economically active population. This resulted in the official unemployment rate decreasing by 0.3 of a percentage points from 32.9% in the first quarter of 2023 to 32.6% in the second quarter of 2023
15 Aug 2023 1PM English South Africa Business News · Investing

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