The incredibly high rates of unemployment in South Africa is the reason to social unrest and it was a key factor in the outbreak of violence and looting this winter. Its unemployment rate has climbed to a new record high of 34.4%.
Statistical General Risenga Maluleke announced on Tuesday that the unemployment rate has increased from 32.6% in the first three months of the year to 34.4% in the second quarter. This figure is considered to be the highest in 82 countries monitored by the financial software and media firm. Maluleke stated, “The impact [of COVID-19] that we are seeing is [that] most firms have closed down… we can see with the rise in unemployment.”
Job losses from quarter two primarily came in the finance sector, which shed some 278,000 workers. There are further 166,000 job losses in social services and 83,000 in manufacturing.
An expanded definition of unemployment, which includes those dissuaded from looking for work, suggests that 44.4% of the labour force were without work in the second quarter. This figure equates to 11.9 million people jobless.
