JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- South Africa recorded a modest decline of 0.2 percentage points in its unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared with the previous quarter, official data showed Tuesday.
According to the latest Quarterly Labor Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the country's official unemployment rate was 31.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, after "decreasing by 0.2 of a percentage point from 32.1 percent in the third quarter of 2024."
South African Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said a number of sectors contributed to the creation of jobs in the quarter. "The number of persons employed in the formal sector increased by 90,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024, and the informal sector employment increased by 34,000 over the same period," he said.
Maluleke noted that within the informal sector, the finance industry contributed the most to job creation.
He said job losses were recorded in community and social services by 63,000, trade by 48,000, construction by 22,000, mining by 18,000, utilities by 17,000, and agriculture by 11,000.
Stats SA also showed that the largest increase in employment was recorded in Western Cape Province with 62,000, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 52,000, and Gauteng with 45,000.
Maluleke added that the expanded unemployment rate, which includes discouraged jobseekers, in the fourth quarter of 2024 remained unchanged at 41.9 percent compared with the previous quarter. ■
