This province in South Africa has more people without a job than working

South Africa’s unemployment rate trended upwards in the first quarter of 2023 amid the inflated cost of living, rising interest rates, increasing fuel prices, and worsening load shedding.

The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QFLS), published by Statistics South Africa on Tuesday (16 May), shows that official unemployment increased by 0.2 percentage points from 32.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 32.9% in the first quarter of 2023.

According to the QFLS, the number of unemployed persons in South Africa increased to 7.9 million in the first quarter of 2023.

The survey results indicate that 179,000 jobs were lost between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. During the same time, however, the working-age population increased by 141,000 or 0.3% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.

Compared to Q4 2022, the working-age population increased by 571,000 or 1.4%. The total number of persons employed was 16.2 million in Q1 2023.

The number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 209,000 to 13.2 million. The discouraged work-seekers decreased by 87,000 in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the fourth quarter of 2022, resulting in a net decrease of 296,000 in the not economically active population.

Provincial performance

Provincially, the number of employed persons increased in six provinces between Q4 2022 and Q1 2023.

Significant employment increases were recorded in Gauteng (+80,000), Limpopp (+71,000), Western Cape (+62,000), Kwa-Zulu Natal (+54,000), Eastern Cape (+41,000), and Northern Cape (+4,000).

Employment losses were recorded in Mpumalanga (-45,000), Free State (-4,000), and the North West (-4,000) during the same period.

Limpopo recorded the most significant quarter-to-quarter change in employment, with an increase of 5.4%.

Compared to Q1 2022, the most significant increases in employment were recorded in Gauteng (+398,000), Western Cape (+360,000), KwaZulu-Natal (+224,000), Eastern Cape (+128,000) and Limpopo (+123,000).

Western Cape had the biggest percentage change in employment year-on-year, with an increase of 15.7%, followed by Eastern Cape and Limpopo, with gains of 9.9% and 9.7%, respectively.

Looking at the extended definition of unemployment, however, the situation is much worse.

The Western Cape is the only province with an unemployment rate still below 30%, with all other provinces sitting with between 39% and 50% of their adult populations without work or not seeking employment.

One province – the North West – has more adults out of work and not looking than people who are employed, with an unemployment rate of 54%. This is closely followed by Mpumalanga province, which just missed the halfway mark at 49.7%.

According to Reuters, many have pointed to record power cuts as the culprit for the increase in unemployment as South Africa skirts a technical recession in Q1 2023.

State power utility Eskom has implemented the worst power outages on record due to its inability to produce enough megawatts to meet demand, leaving South Africans without electricity for up to 10 hours a day.

However, statistician Risenga Maluleke told Reuters that further analysis needed to be done on whether consistent power cuts were impacting employment.

“When you look at areas like mining and manufacturing, they have lost employment, but it needs a further analysis,” he told a media briefing.

The power crisis is having a debilitating impact on households and businesses alike and is expected to put pressure on the employment status of many as some firms struggle to remain in operation, added Reuters.

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