Unemployment highest since 2008 - Stats SA
Statistician-general Risenga Maluleke
says the country’s unemployment rate in the second quarter of the year is the highest since 2008.
Maluleke released the country’s quarter labour survey on Tuesday in Tshwane which shows that the country’s unemployment rate continues to increase.
A whopping 7.8 million people are currently unemployed in the country, which is an increase from 7.2 million in the first quarter.
The figure translates into a 34.4% unemployment rate.
“So what does this 7.8 million people represent in terms of the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate of South Africa in Q2: 2021 is 34.4% is the highest we have seen since 2008.
“We have seen a steady rise of unemployment coming out of 2008 where we started somewhere in the mid-20 all the way to the 30s and now we are hitting 34.4% as the unemployment rate,” says Maluleke.
The country’s expanded unemployment rate also increased by 1.1% to 44.4% in the second quarter, compared to the previous one.
In the provincial breakdown, the Eastern Cape has recorded the highest official and expanded unemployment rates standing at 47.1% and 53% respectively.
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