Statistics South Africa released the latest employment statistics on Tuesday, 30 November 2021, announcing that South Africa’s unemployment rate has increased to 34,9% in the the third quarter (Q3) of 2021.

The latest statistics released showed that almost all the industries in the country except the finance industry/sector recorded large job losses with the trade industry seemingly having suffered the most after overseeing -10% decline in employment. The community and social services also suffered a sharp decline in employment with a rate of -6,2%. However, it was not all doom and gloom as the financial sector had a quarterly increase of 138 000 jobs (+6,1%).

Statistics SA also announced that the formal/nonagricultural sector oversaw 571 000 job losses between the second and third quarters of 2021 with the agriculture and private household sectors also recording 32 000 and 65 000 decreases between the second (Q2) and third (Q3) quarters.

According to Stats SA, South Africa’s unemployment rate has increased by 0,5 of percentage point as compared to the second quarter (Q2) of 2021. The latest statistics also showed that the unemployment rate of graduates in the country is 22,4% points lower than the official national unemployment rate with the graduates unemployment rate in South Africa currently sitting at 12,5%.

The number of unemployed youth aged 15-24 years stands at a staggering 66,5% and a shocking 43,8% for youth aged 25-34 years.