Black African women remain the most unemployed
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Statistician General, Risenga Maluleke has today announced heartbreaking news about employment statistics where black Africans still account for the most numbers of unemployed people. African women still remain the most disadvantaged taking the big chunk of the most unemployed.
Maluleka said that as it stands, the number of unemployed people went up by 0.8% to 32.9%.
This is also as working-age population increased by 137 000 or 0,3% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.
The number of employed persons increased by 22 000 to 16,7 million in Q1: 2024, and the number of unemployed persons increased by 330 000 to 8,2 million compared to Q4: 2023, resulting in an increase of 352 000 (up by 1,4%) in the labour force. The number of discouraged work-seekers decreased by 1 000, and the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 214 000 (down by 1,6%) between the two quarters, resulting in a net decrease of 215 000 in the not economically active population.
“An increase in employment and unemployment resulted in an increase of 0,8 of a percentage point in the unemployment rate to 32,9% in the first quarter of 2024. The labour force participation rate increased by 0,7 of a percentage point to 60,7%, while the absorption rate decreased by 0,1 of a percentage point to 40,7%, between Q4:2023 and Q1: 2024.”
“Employment gains were observed in the formal sector (up by 56 000), Private households (up by 44 000) and the Agricultural sector (up by 21 000), while informal sector employment decreased by 100 000 in Q1: 2024” said Maluleka.
