Cape Town- An unemployment rate above 30% is still of serious concern, experts say, after StatsSA on Tuesday released its Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), which showed the unemployment rate had dropped by just under one percent, from 35.3% in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 34.5% in the first quarter of 2022.
The total number of persons employed was 14.9 million in the first quarter of 2022, StatsSA said.
“These results indicate that 370 000 jobs were gained between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.
“The biggest job gains were recorded in Community and Social Services (281 000), Manufacturing (263 000) and Trade (98 000).
“However, there were job losses in private households (186 000), Finance (72 000), Construction (60 000) and Agriculture (23 000).”
The Don Consultancy Group chief economist, Chifi Mhango, said the QLFS data was still a matter of national concern, as it had social, economic and political stability implications.
“Although the South African Government has drafted various policies to try create a conducive-environment to drive investment and job creation, the released QLFS data clearly shows that the dream to reduce the unemployment rate drastically is yet to be realised.
“The data clearly continues to reveal that the face of unemployment is more towards youth at 63.9%, women at 36.4% and the African demographic group at 38.6%.
“The South African economy’s growth trends remain turbulent with concerns around de-industrialisation and declining share of key traditional sectors’ contribution to Gross Domestic Product, especially the manufacturing sector,” said Mhango
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) expressed major disappointment in the statistics, which it described as a “dismal failure”.
“Numsa notes the unemployment statistics. The picture which is painted with these numbers is of dismal failure – failure by this government to act decisively to stimulate job creation.
“Women, especially black African women, remain vulnerable to the labour market because their unemployment rate is sitting at 40.6%. Young people are still overwhelmingly affected. This is a recipe for disaster. Unemployment is a crisis that must be urgently resolved," said Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola.
Manenberg Women’s League community activist Amelia Tara added that a small increase meant nothing against the harsh lived reality of the poor.
“These stats do not necessarily represent a true reflection of poverty in townships.
“If we look at food and fuel price increases, the minimum wage still being so low, even if there is an increase in jobs it does not mean people are earning enough to survive. On the ground our status of poverty has not changed,” she said.
“On the other hand we would love to know if these are temporary or permanent jobs? Because an unemployment rate over 30% is still very high.
“Also, who is getting the jobs? Is it poor people who really need it or those who already have money?”
She added that the manufacturing sector needed to be revived, along with investment, to grow the technical skills of the youth and unemployed.
Meanwhile, the Automobile Association (AA) yesterday noted a joint statement the Ministers of Finance and Mineral Resources and Energy, who yesterday announced the extension of the reduction of R1.50 to the General Fuel Levy (GFL) for June.
In July, the GFL will reduce by 75c.
The GFL will return to its normal rate of R3.93 in August.
“The temporary relief is exactly that: temporary, and it’s now apparent that the government must find more longer lasting solutions to mitigate against rising fuel costs.
“Government must now initiate a review of the fuel price: to examine all the components that comprise a litre of fuel, establish their continued relevance as part of the fuel price, and to determine if the calculations used are still correct.
“Such a review is long overdue and the longer government delays in getting this started, the longer it will take to find sustainable solutions,” the AA said.
Cape Times