Labour market figures: South Africa stagnates around a new all-time low
24 August 2021
Solidarity today expressed its concern about the latest unemployment figures released earlier today by Statistics South Africa (StatsSA). This follows the general unemployment rate that increased from 43,2% to 44,4% according to the extended definition.
According to Solidarity, these figures indicate de-industrialisation, as manufacturing has shown a large decrease in employees year after year.
“This is bad news, because it shows that South Africa is becoming more of a withdrawal economy and adding less and less new value. In short, South Africa is looting its territory and squandering its citizens’ future. No country has ever been able to become a modern, prosperous society by focusing only on agriculture and mining,” explains Theuns du Buisson, Economic Researcher at the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI). “The current decline reminds us of the aftermath of the great financial crisis of 2008/9, where South Africa also never fully recovered to its pre-crisis state. It seems that we are once again starting to stagnate around a new low point with more people than ever before being shut out of the productive economy.”
After Solidarity expressed its shock last quarter over the record-high youth unemployment rate, according to the union, there is still nothing to be happy about.