Unemployment decreases by 0.3% in second quarter of 2023

JOHANNESBURG - The official unemployment rate has decreased to 32.6-percent from 32.9-percent in the second quarter of 2023.

Stats SA’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows that the number of employed people increased by 154,000 to 16.3 million, compared to the preceding period.

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In the first two quarters of this year, formal sector employment - that accounts for 69.3 percent of jobs - increased by 143,000 posts.

Meanwhile, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 11,000 to 7.9 million.

The discouraged work-seeker cohort has decreased by 94,000.

Employment levels have almost reached pre-Covid levels.