The official unemployment rate was 33,9% in the second quarter of 2022

23 August 2022

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has, today (23 August 2022), issued the results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for Q2: 2022. These results indicate that 648 000 jobs were gained between the first quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2022.

The biggest job gains were recorded in Community and Social Services (276 000), Trade (169 000), Finance (128 000) and Construction (104 000). However, there were job losses in Manufacturing (73 000) and Transport (54 000). The total number of persons employed was 15,6 million in the second quarter of 2022.

The number of unemployed persons increased by 132 000 to 8,0 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter. The number of discouraged work[1]seekers decreased by 183 000 (4,9%) and the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 452 000 (3,3%) between the two quarters resulting in a net decrease of 635 000 in the not economically active population.

The above changes in employment and unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate decreasing by 0,6 of a percentage point from 34,5% in the first quarter of 2022 to 33,9% in the second quarter of 2022 - The unemployment rate according to the expanded definition of unemployment also decreased by 1,4 percentage points to 44,1 % in Q2:2022 compared to Q1:2022.

The results continue to show that youth remain vulnerable in the labour market. The second quarter of 2022 saw the total number of unemployed youth (aged 15-34) increase by 2,0% (or 92,000) to 4,8 million from Q1:2022. There was a noticeable increase of 7,2% or 370 000 in the number of employed youth during the same period. The increase in both employment and unemployment among the youth resulted in a decrease in youth unemployment rate by 1,3 percentage points to 46,5% in Q2:2022.

Issued by Statistics South Africa, 23 September 2022