While the Eastern Cape has the highest ‘narrow’ unemployment rate in South Africa, when factoring in discouraged work seekers, theSouth Africa’s unemployment rate trended upwards in the fourth quarter of 2023 due to the inflated cost of living, high interest rates and fuel prices, and continued load shedding. The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QFLS), published by Statistics South Africa on Tuesday (20 February), shows that the official unemployment increased by 0.2% from 31.
9% in the third quarter of 2023 to 32.1% in the fourth quarter. According to the data, the number of unemployed persons increased by 46,000 to 7.9 million during the same quarter. Additionally, the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 218,000 to 13.4 million, while discouraged work seekers decreased by 107,000 in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2023. The national stats service noted that this resulted in a net increase of 111,000 in the not economically active populatio