South Africa has recorded its highest unemployment rate in thirteen years

South Africa recorded its highest unemployment rate in thirteen years between July and August. The information comes from a report released by the national statistics agency, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA), on Wednesday, December 1. According to the institution, this situation is due to a drop in employment which has led to a fall in the labor force, although the number of unemployed has fallen to 7.6 million from 7.8 million previously.

StatsSA reveals that during this quarter the number of people seeking employment increased by 988,000. This number brings the unemployment rate in the country to 34.9%, up 0.5 points from percentage compared to the previous quarter. In addition, all sectors of activity were hit by these job losses with the exception of finance, where an increase of 138,000 new employees was recorded.

Regarding the provinces, although they were all affected, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng recorded more than 48% of job losses in the third quarter compared to the second quarter. A previous report from the institution found that more than half (57%) of unemployed people are blacks. This number represents about seven million people.