13-05-2025
Unemployment rate climbs to 32.9%
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's unemployment rate has climbed again, now sitting at 32.9% in the first quarter of 2025.
The latest data paints a grim picture for job seekers, as employment figures continue to fall.
According to Stat SA's Quarterly Labour Force survey, the number of employed people dropped by 291 thousand between the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.
Unemployment rose by 237 thousand, pushing the official jobless total to 8.2 million.
The labour force shrank slightly, with fewer people actively looking for work, while discouraged job seekers and those not economically active for other reasons also increased.
Altogether, this pushed South Africa's official unemployment rate up to 32.9%, and the expanded rate, which includes those too disheartened to keep job hunting, to a staggering 43.1%.
