COSATU statement on the first quarter unemployment figures
23 June 2020
The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted the latest quarterly employment statistics showing that unemployment rose by a percentage point from 29,1 to 30,1% in the first quarter of 2020. This is the first signal of the economic firestorm facing this country.
The latest unemployment figures are an initial snapshot of the devastating impacts of covid-19 still on jobs and the economy. In comparison to last year, there are now 900 000 more people who have become jobless. The total impacts on jobs by the pandemic is not yet accurately captured in the statistics because the majority of section 189 notices are in the CCMA, the full extent of the lockdown will become clearer when the labour statistics for the second quarter are released by STATS SA.
These first quarter numbers hide the reality of what is on the horizon. The federation believes that with the explosion of Covid-19 and the subsequent global and domestic lockdown, the situation is now far worse. We fear that unemployment will soon in fact approach 50% in the expanded definition.
Employers in both the private and public sectors have already begun mass retrenchments. Surveys have indicated that half of the employers receiving the UIF Covid-19 TERS relief are likely to retrench on average 20% of their workers. This is calamitous considering that youth unemployment is already at 41,7%.