South Africa's unemployment rate rose to 32.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020 from 30.8% in the previous period. It was the highest jobless rate since quarterly data became available in 2008, with more people entering the labour market and actively looking for jobs. Still, the market is not creating sufficient jobs to absorb enough people of working age into employment. The number of unemployed persons increased by 701 thousand to 7.2 million, employment rose by 333 thousand to 15 million and the labour force went up by 1 million to 22.3 million. Total employment rose mostly in community and social services (+170 thousand), construction (86 thousand) and private households (+76 thousand), but it fell in finance (-123 thousand) and mining (-35 thousand). The expanded definition of unemployment, including people who have stopped looking for a work, was at 42.6%, down from 43.1% in the prior period. source: Statistics South Africa
Unemployment Rate in South Africa averaged 25.99 percent from 2000 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 32.50 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 and a record low of 21.50 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. This page provides - South Africa Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. South Africa Unemployment Rate - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on March of 2021.
Unemployment Rate in South Africa is expected to be 29.00 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Unemployment Rate in South Africa to stand at 27.10 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the South Africa Unemployment Rate is projected to trend around 27.00 percent in 2022, according to our econometric models.