South Africa’s unemployment rate dipped slightly to 32.6% in the second quarter of this year, down from 32.9% in the preceding quarter marking its lowest point since the first quarter of 2021, as indicated by data released on Tuesday.
According to Statistics South Africa, the count of unemployed individuals was 7.921 million during the second quarter, a decrease from 7.933 million recorded in the first quarter.
Analysts had forecasted that the official unemployment rate would remain steady at 32.9% for the second quarter of the year.
When applying an expanded definition of unemployment that encompasses individuals who have become discouraged from seeking employment, the percentage of jobless individuals within the labor force was 42.1% during April-June, a marginal decrease from the 42.4% recorded in January-March.