South African Unemployment Rate Drops Down to 26,7%

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) officially released the statistics for the unemployment rate in SA during the fourth quarter in 2017.

The statistics, released on Tuesday, show the rate has dropped down to 26.7%.  Stats SA says that 5.9 million people are unemployed but actively looking for jobs.

The unemployment rate for females remain higher than that of males, and black females remain most vulnerable. “Black African females had the highest unemployment rate in the Fourth quarter by 32, 4%,” said Stats SA.

Statistician-General Risega Maluleke said unemployment is higher for those with lower education levels.

According to Stats SA close to 30% of people aged 15 – 24 years old were not in employment, education or training programmes in Q4 of 2017.

The Northern Cape recorded the highest level at 38,2%, where Limpopo was the lowest at 25%

The unemployment rate of those aged between 25 and 34 is 33.4%, double that of 45- to 54-year-olds which is 15.6%.

“The absorption rate for people aged 25-34 years old is over 13 percentage points lower than that of people aged 45-54 years old,” reads the report.

The results are 12.7 percentage points away from the 14% targeted in the National Development Plan for 2020.  Maluleke says that the NDP target for 2030 is 6%.

However, this is 1 percentage point down from the unemployment rate of 27.7% recorded for the second and third quarters of 2017.