Unemployment Rate Reaches 30.1% During Q1 – Stats SA

South Africa’s unemployment rate for the first quarter of this year rose to by a percentage point to 30.1%.

That means 16.4 million South Africans who were actively looking for work before the lockdown were unemployed.

The number of employed people dropped by 38,000 between January and March.

Stats SA has released the first quarter figures.

Chief economist at Stanlib Kevin Lings said that these numbers were exceptional.

“The unemployment rate from my perspective jumped quite substantially, it’s now at about 30%. What’s stood out in particular, is that in the past year, almost 900,000 more people have become unemployed and I think that is exceptional and it speaks to our inability to create jobs in a very low-growth environment.”

It’s important to note that these figures capture data from the first quarter of this year.

Many more jobs have been lost since the lockdown was implemented in March.

EWN