Unemployment marginally increases in third quarter

Résumé détaillé

South Africa’s official unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point to 33.7% in the third quarter of 2026, up from 33.6% in the second quarter, according to the Quarterly…

South Africa’s official unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point to 33.7% in the third quarter of 2026, up from 33.6% in the second quarter, according to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS).

The results show that the number of employed people increased by 101 000 to 16.8 million, while the number of unemployed people rose by 97 000 to 8.6 million compared with the second quarter.

“This resulted in an increase of 198 000 (or 0,8%) in the labour force during the same period. The above changes in employment and unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate (Labour Underutilisation (LU1)) increasing by 0.1 percentage point from 33,6% in the second quarter of 2026 to 33,7% in the third quarter of 2026,” Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday.

Discouraged job-seekers increased by 70 000 to 3.7 million, while other available job-seekers decreased by 1 000 to 860 000. The number of unavailable job-seekers remained unchanged at 44 000. These changes resulted in a net increase of 69 000 in the potential labour force to 4.6 million. This group comprises people who are available for work but are not seeking it, or who are seeking work but are unavailable.

“Those outside the labour force for other reasons decreased by 150 000 to 12.4 million. Persons outside the labour force, which is the total of those in the potential labour force and others outside the labour force, decreased by 82 000 to 17.0 million in the third quarter of 2026,” Stats SA said.

The survey also measured other indicators of labour underutilisation alongside the official unemployment rate (LU1).

The combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment (LU2) decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 36.5%, while the combined rate of unemployment and the potential labour force (LU3) increased by 0.2 percentage points to 44.0%.

The composite measure of labour underutilisation (LU4) remained unchanged at 46.3% in the third quarter.

Together, these measures reflect different degrees of…

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