rapidly to the tertiary sector where high skills and experience are in demand.23 The country’s
continued over-reliance on the extractive and capital intensive industries in such sectors as
energy, metals and chemicals has partly exacerbated the unemployment problem.
At the time of submission of the country’s Second Report on the Implementation of its APRM
Programme of Action in September 2010, it was reported that the unemployment rate was
25.3%24. The Quarterly Labour Force Surveys by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) show
that in the fourth quarter of 2010 (October-December) the rate of unemployment had
decreased slightly and was measured at 24.0%. However, the total number of people
employed in the economy reached 13.1 million by the fourth quarter 2010.25
In 2011, the unemployment rate remained relatively stable with marginal changes. In the first
quarter (January-March 2011) the rate was at 25.0%; in the second quarter (April-June
2011) the rate stood at 25.7%. In the third (July-September 2011) and fourth (OctoberDecember 2011) quarters the unemployment rate was 25.0% and 23.9% respectively.26 In
2012, the unemployment statistics followed a similar trend as the previous year in 2012.
However in the same period total employment continued to increase and reached 13.7
million people. Owing to the recent global financial and economic recession that started in
2008 these figures, though encouraging have not reached the 14 million peak that the
country witness before the economic crisis. In the first and second quarters of 2012 the
recorded unemployment rate was 25.2% and 24.9% respectively, in the third quarter of the
same year it reached 25.5% and 24.9% respectively.
The figures below present schematic representations of the unemployment rate by province,
gender and population group as well as by age group based on the results of Census 2012.
In addition the figures below are sourced from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey which is
the source of official labour market statistics in the country.
Unemployment rate by province
45
40
35
%
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
23
24
25
26
WC
GP
NC
NW
MP
FS
KZN
EC
LP
RSA
QLSF_Q4:2011 21.6
25.1
26.7
24.6
27.7
29.4
19.3
27.1
20.2
23.9
Census 2011
26.3
27.4
31.5
31.6
32.6
33
37.4
38.9
29.8
21.6
Department of Labour, Annual Report 2011/2012, Government Printers, Pretoria.
The unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.
Statistics SA
Stats SA, Quarterly Labour Force Survey 2011, Stats SA, Pretoria.
55