South Africa’s official unemployment rate has risen from 31.4% to 32.7% in the first quarter of 2026, according to Statistics South Africa.
Stats SA said 345 000 jobs were lost during the quarter, reducing the number of employed people to 16.8 million, while unemployment increased to 8.1 million people.
Youth unemployment also worsened, rising by 2 percentage points to 45.8%.
“There was a decrease of 345 000 in the number of employed persons to 16.8 million, while there was an increase of 301 000 in the number of unemployed persons to 8.1 million,” Stats SA said.
KwaZulu-Natal was the only province to record employment growth, while Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and Limpopo recorded major job losses.
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