South Africa’s unemployment rate saw its first decline of the year, dropping to 32.1% in the third quarter from 33.5% in the previous quarter, as reported by the nation’s statistics agency on Tuesday.
The increase of 294,000 in employed individuals, alongside a decrease of 373,000 in the unemployed, reflects notable growth in sectors such as community services, construction, trade, mining, and transport, according to Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey.
Youth unemployment remains a critical issue, though it fell slightly from 46.6% to 45.5% in this period.
While this marks the first decline in the unemployment rate since Q3 of 2023, South Africa continues to grapple with deep-rooted structural economic challenges and limited growth, which the World Bank identifies as barriers to tackling pervasive inequality and poverty affecting over 60% of the population.