Johannesburg, South Africa – The latest unemployment numbers show that black women and the youth are the most vulnerable in the South African job market.
According to Eyewitness News, South Africa seems to be on the mend in terms of employment as the country recorded its second consecutive decline in unemployment.
The unemployment rate dropped from 33.9% in the second quarter to 32.9% in the third quarter of 2022 – meaning 204,000 jobs were gained during this period.
In the third quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate among black women is 39.1% – which is 4% higher than the national average for women.
Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said this is a yearly trend.
“Further you look at people in long-term unemployment out of the 7.7 million unemployed, you have about 5.9 million that are long-term unemployed.
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“When we say long-term unemployment, we are talking about those that haven’t been employed for a year or longer and that accounts for about 77% of the unemployed people.”
Out of the 11.2 million unemployed people according to the expanded definition – approximately 3.5 million are young people between 15 and 24 who are not in employment, education or training.
Unemployment among youth between 25 and 34 also remains high at 40.5%.
