ANC statement on the Second Quarter Employment Numbers released by StatSA
24 August 2022
The African National Congress is encouraged by the results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the second quarter of 2022 released by Statistics South Africa showing that unemployment has fallen from 34,5% to 33,9 %. The results show that between the first quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2022, 648 000 jobs were added into the economy.
Whilst noting that this rate of unemployment is still unacceptably high, it is evident that tangible progress is being made. The notable progress is on youth unemployment. Although both unemployment and employment increased among the youth, there was a net decrease in youth unemployment rate by 1,3 percentage points in the second quarter. However, youth unemployment remains a big concern.
We will ensure that the ANC-led administration sustains this progress across all sectors of our economy.
As outlined in our policy document on Economic Transformation and the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, we will continue to mobilise society around an infrastructure-led recovery with new investments in energy; water and sanitation; roads and bridges; human settlements, health and education; digital infrastructure and public transport. To achieve significant job creation multipliers, the emphasis will be on localisation, including maximising the use of South African materials and construction companies as well as labour-intensive methods.