Cape Town – The Western Cape government has welcomed the news that its employment rate had increased by 330 000 on a year-on-year basis.
Statistics SA released the latest quarterly unemployment rates that showed that, nationally, the unemployment levels decreased by 0.2% from 32.9% in the third quarter of 2022 to 32.7% in the fourth quarter.
The unemployment rate, according to the expanded definition of unemployment, also decreased by 0.5 of a percentage point to 42.6%.
The Western Cape also recorded the largest employment increases in the country on a quarterly basis, with around 167 000 people having found jobs.
This makes the Western Cape the province with the lowest expanded unemployment rate in the country at 26.8 %, a 2.7% decrease and a margin of 12.6% better than Gauteng, the next best-placed province.
The DA’s Cayla Murray said the party welcomed this development.
“The DA has always believed that the private sector is responsible for creating jobs and the government must try to make it as easy as possible for businesses to expand, and add more employment opportunities for our residents,” she said.
Finance MEC Mireille Wenger said the provincial government would continue to provide support to industries to ensure that they continue to boost the job market.
“While we do face significant challenges nationally, including the debilitating energy crisis and the recent greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force, which may increase the cost of doing business with South Africa and act as a disincentive for investment, the Western Cape government will continue to work to remove obstacles to growth and to create the right conditions for the private sector, businesses big and small, to thrive,” she said.
Economist Dawie Roodt said: “The bit of improvement that we have seen has to do with an economy that is gradually returning to its pre-Covid levels – which means we could see a slight downward trajectory in unemployment levels in the coming months.
“But unfortunately the underlying economic growth is very weak and we can expect a further increase in the unemployment levels.”
Weekend Argus