SA’s unemployment rate may be slightly down from its fourth-quarter peak — but the labour force participation rate remains a concern, writes XhantiPayi.
On the face of it, SA’s most recent jobs data looks positive, with a declining unemployment rate. But a closer look at the numbers shows how precarious is the slope that the country is facing.
According to Stats SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey, released last week, the unemployment rate dropped to 34.5% in the first quarter of 2022 — 0.8 percentage points down on the record 35.3% unemployment rate reached in the last quarter of 2021...A subscription helps you enjoy the best of our business content every day along with benefits such as articles from our international business news partners; ProfileData financial data; and digital access to the Sunday Times and Sunday Times Daily.