The grim outlook on the data is based on the GDP’s performance in the second half of the year, which saw the country fall deeper into recession with the economy shrinking by 16.4%.
JOHANNESBURG – Economists estimate that the country’s unemployment rate increased to 31.5% in the second quarter of the year.
Statistics South Africa will release the Quarterly Labour Force Survey on Tuesday morning following a lengthy delay due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The grim outlook on the data is based on the GDP’s performance in the second half of the year, which saw the country fall deeper into recession with the economy shrinking by 16.4%.
Close to one million jobs.
That’s the number of job losses economists project that Stats SA will announce when it releases the labour force survey for the second quarter of the year.
The unemployment rate increased by one percentage point between the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year.
Economist at Citibank, Gina Schoeman, said that the projected increase to 31.5%, while it would represent a steep hike, is based on several variables, including the overall performance of the economy.
“How many actual job losses, how many people were put on job suspension versus how many were put on pay cuts and I’m not sure if Stats SA is going to get their survey around that.”
Out of the country’s total working-age population, which stood at 38.9 million people in the last quarter, only 16.4 million people are employed.
Seven point one million people are jobless, 2.9 million others are discouraged job seekers while 12.5 million people are neither in employment, education or training.
