JOHANNESBURG - The number of discouraged job-seekers in South Africa has increased by 70,000, bringing the total to 3.7 million.
Siphelele Ngidi from the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at Wits University explains why finding a job can be so difficult, particularly for people from poorer households.
“Seeking employment is not a costless activity, right? It’s an activity that requires a certain level of capital. It’s an activity that requires finances. For you, you need money to firstly buy data. You need money to travel to interviews, et cetera.
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"And if you know individuals from poor households, they are disadvantaged by this," he said.
Statistics South Africa’s latest figures show the official unemployment rate increased by 0.1 of a percentage point to 33.7% in the third quarter.
While the number of employed people increased by 101,000, unemployment also rose, with 97,000 more people joining the ranks of the jobless.
A further 3.7 million people have given up looking for work.
Overall, 8.6 million people are officially unemployed, while another 4.6 million form part of the potential labour force.
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