Klerksdorp Record, Klerksdorp - The NW has the worst unemployment figures in the country where more people are out of work than those who have jobs.
Stats SA released the latest unemployment rates on Tuesday February 18 and it is even more dire than before with 20 000 extra people in the province losing their jobs.Nationally, 132 000 people entered the job market in the fourth quarter of 2024.
According to the QLFS Q4: 2024 results, 17,1 million are employed, but 8 million are not. Discouraged work-seekers increased by 111 000 (up by 3,3%), and the number of persons who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 93 000 (down by 0,7%) between the third quarter and fourth quarter of 2024.
This led to an increase of 18 000 in the number of the not economically active population to 16,5 million. The official unemployment rate decreased by 0,2 of a percentage point from 32,1% in the third quarter of 2024 to 31,9% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The largest increases in employment were observed in Western Cape (62 000), KwaZulu-Natal (52 000) and Gauteng (45 000), while decreases were observed in Free State (25 000), North West (20 000) and Limpopo (16 000).
The youth (15–34 years) remain vulnerable in the labour market. The results for the fourth quarter of 2024 show that the total number of unemployed youth decreased by 133 000 to 4,7 million, while employed youth recorded an increase of 37 000 to 5,8 million. As a result, the youth unemployment rate decreased from 45,5% in the third quarter of 2024 to 44,6% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
