South Africa: Unemployment Rate Rises 1.3 Percentage Points to 32.7 Percent
Job losses in construction and community services outweighed gains in manufacturing, mining and agriculture, while youth unemployment also increased, Statistics South Africa said.
- On Tuesday, Statistics South Africa reported the unemployment rate rose to 32.7% in the first quarter of 2026, climbing from 31.4% in the previous quarter.
- Job losses in construction and community services drove the decline, though manufacturing, mining, and agriculture added workers during the quarter, Stats SA found.
- Employment fell by 345,000 to 16.8 million while the ranks of unemployed swelled by 301,000 to 8.1 million, the quarterly labour force survey showed.
- Amid rising frustration, anti-immigrant protests have emerged in recent weeks, intensifying political pressure ahead of local elections scheduled for November 4.
- The International Monetary Fund lowered its 2026 growth forecast to 1% from 1.4% last month, citing fresh economic challenges from the Middle East conflict.
15 Articles
15 Articles
South Africa: Unemployment Rate Rises 1.3 Percentage Points to 32.7 Percent
About a third of South Africa's labour force is without a job, and things are bound to get worse as the economic outlook sours with each passing day of the Middle East war triggered at the end of February by the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Nearly HALF of South Africa’s youth are currently out of work
South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis has deepened further, with nearly half of all young people now without work, according to the latest official labour data. Stats SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows the youth unemployment rate, covering those aged 15 to 34, rose to 45.8% in the first quarter of 2026. This marks an increase of 2.0 percentage points from the previous quarter, driven by both rising job losses and fewer young people ente…
South Africa Jobless Rate Rises Before Iran War Fallout Hits
(Bloomberg) — South Africa’s unemployment rate rose more than expected in the first quarter as job losses in sectors including construction and community services weakened the labor market, even as the full impact of the Iran war is yet to filter through.
Job crisis worsens in South Africa as unemployment rate increases
South Africa’s jobs crisis deepened at the start of 2026, with hundreds of thousands more people left without work in a trend that continues to hit younger citizens hardest, Cape {town} Etc reports. Fresh figures released by Statistics South Africa on Tuesday show that the country’s official unemployment rate has climbed to 32.7%, pushing the total number of unemployed South Africans above 8.1 million. The latest data, covering January to March,…
Unemployment stats reflect market pressures
The Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2026, released yesterday by Stats SA, points to an unemployment rate now standing at 32,7%. Frank Blackmore, lead economist at KPMG, points out that employment, like GDP, tends to fluctuate seasonally, so some variation can be expected from quarter to quarter. “However, there was a significant decrease in employment when comparing the fourth quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026,”…
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