Despite a promising recovery to get the employment rate close to pre-COVID levels, economists are concerned that severe load shedding could undo all of it.
On Tuesday, Statistics South Africa released the second quarter labour statistics which showed there has been a 0.3 percentage point decrease in the unemployment rate compared to the first quarter of this year.
The quarterly labour employment survey is a household-based sample survey that collects data on the labour market activities of South Africans between the ages of 15 and 64 years old.
Figures from the recent labour survey show that South Africa is about 74,000 jobs shy of reaching the 2019 fourth quarter figure of 16.4 million people being employed in the country.
FNB senior economist, Thanda Sithole, said the impact of load shedding could stem the job growth momentum.
Economist, Professor Bonke Dumisa, said the labour sector had shown resilience in being able to grow despite the severe levels of load shedding in the past quarter.
“We are looking at these figures against the background of many people predicting, and it actually happened, that we have more Eskom load shedding in the second quarter because of the beginning of winter.”
Many political parties have lamented the fact that over 24 million people still remain without a job.
-EWN
In other news – Video of Pearl Thusi clubbing in Zimbabwe surfaces
Following a week of serious criticism towards well-known Mzansi media personality, Pearl Thusi over trip to Zimbabwe, a clip of her having a great time in the club that side has surfaced. Clearly, she has been living it up during her state visit.
The bubbly influencer jetted into the country alongside several media influencers and journalists across Africa who were being hosted by the Zimbabwean government. Read More
