Staff Reporter
The official unemployment rate for the Free State increased by 2.2 percentage points between January and March this year from 33.4 percent to 35.6 percent.
This was revealed by Statistician General Risenga Maluleke when he released results for the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the first three months of this year.
But the expanded unemployment rate which includes those who have given up looking for work, the provincial rate jumped from 39.9 percent at the end of last year to 43.4 percent in March this year.
According to Maluleke, the Free State is one of the provinces that recorded the highest increases in the official jobless figure.
“The official unemployment rate increased in six of the nine provinces, with the largest increase recorded in the Free State – up by 2.2 percentage points . . .” he said on Tuesday.
This was followed by Limpopo, up by 2.1 percentage points to 29.4 percent, and the Western Cape which gained 1.2 percentage points to 23.7 percent.
The Eastern Cape remains the province with the highest official unemployment rate at 43.8 percent.
The Free State is second and Gauteng is third with 34.4 percent.
South Africa’s official unemployment rate stands at 32.6 percent while the expanded unemployment figure is 43.2 percent.
Maluleke said there were about 10.2 million young people aged 15-24 years in the first quarter of 2021, of which 32.4 percent were not in employment, education or training.
“Some young people have been discouraged with the labour market and they are also not building on their skills base through education and training – they are not in employment, education or training,” said the Statistician General.
The number of employed people in the Free State dropped by 42 000 from 745 000 to about 703 000.
This again was the highest drop in employment compared to other provinces.
Nationally, four out of eight industries in the formal sector recorded employment gains.
Job increases were mainly recorded in the finance, utilities, mining and manufacturing industries.
The biggest losses were in the construction industry, followed by transport, community and social services as well as trade.
In an economic commentary soon after the release, Nedbank said even though the economy has gained traction in the past months, the momentum has come mainly from increased global demand and a rally in commodity prices.
“Domestically, however . . . demand remains subdued,” said the bank’s economic unit.
“Businesses will take time to recover from the shock of Level-5 lockdown.
“Meaningful job creation will probably only resume once corporate profitability has been restored and balance sheets have been strengthened.
“Government can best boost labour market prospects by speeding up vaccination rates, which would go a long way in helping to improve the conditions in labour-intensive industries such as hospitality and tourism.”