COVID-19 has rocked the global economy over the last two years, and South Africa is no exception. However, in times of uncertainty, a bit of good news is still uplifting, and Stats SA’s labour force survey for 2022’s first quarter is exactly that.
Statistics South Africa announced today that there were 370 000 jobs gained between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.
โThe above changes in employment and unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate decreasing by 0,8 of a percentage point from 35,3% in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 34,5% in the first quarter of 2022,โ said Stats SA.
Itโs noted that the greatest job gains were seen in the Community and Social Services, Manufacturing and Trade. Whilst there were losses in the Private Households, Finance, Construction and Agriculture.
According to the data collected, an overall of 14.9 million South Africans were recorded as employed for the first quarter of 2022.
Of all the South African provinces, Western Cape and Gauteng have the highest number of individuals working from home instead of going to the office. The Western Cape has shown a major drop in unemployment since the last quarter of 2021, the unemployment rate has dropped by 25.2%
This is excellent news for South Africa and its citizens.
Source: Business Tech, 2022
