Much still needs to be done to grow the economy and create jobs

13 November 2024

The Congress of South African Trade Unions in the North West has noted with interest the decline in the rate of unemployment in the province indicating that jobs have been created over the past quarter.

Further signs of improvement become apparent when looked at it on a year-on-year basis, but at the same time much work still needs to be done for the provincial economy to absorb as many entrants to the labour market as possible.

The official unemployment rate of the province declined by 4.5% in the past quarter and by 1.8% on a year-on-year basis. Simultaneously, unofficial unemployment declined by 2.7% in the past quarter and by 0.3% on a year-on-year basis.

While we note this improvement unemployment in the province still remains the highest if one looks at the expanded rate and the second highest if you look at the official rate.

Job growth sectors include manufacturing, which grew by 26.2% on a yearly basis but shrunk by 3.3% on quarterly basis. This was followed by agriculture which grew by 21.4% and no shrinkage. Mining grew by 10.2% without shrinkage.

Based on these statistics, there is an increase in the number of people who have gained employment, but this has not put a dent on the unemployment rate in the province.

COSATU North West believes that for unemployment to substantially decline we need an employment growth rate of about 5% per quarter to see a real decline in the joblessness rate.

The Federation believes for employment to grow we need a real policy shift in the economy of the province. Commitment to investment on economic infrastructure to stimulate economic growth is also essential.

While we are aware of the plans of the 7th Administration, we believe some of the commitments need to be accelerated to produce real economic growth which can absorb the multitudes of unemployed in the province.

Issued by Kopani Konopi, COSATU North West, 13 November 2024