South Africa’s unemployment rate unexpectedly declined for a second consecutive quarter, even as flooding devastated a major transportation hub and electricity outages intensified.
The jobless rate decreased to 33.9% in the three months through June from 34.5% in the previous quarter, Statistics South Africa announced on Tuesday in a report released in Pretoria. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of five economists was 35%.
The rate is still the highest on a list of 82 countries and the eurozone monitored by Bloomberg. The International Monetary Fund projects that South Africa’s unemployment rate will reach 35.2% this year, the highest in the world, although data for some countries are unavailable.
The social services, finance and trade sectors were among the biggest drivers of job growth during the quarter.
Unemployment, according to the expanded definition, stood at 44.1%, compared with 45.5% in the prior quarter, meaning almost half of the people who were available to work weren’t seeking employment.
The official jobless rate in Africa’s most industrialised economy has exceeded 20% for at least two decades. That’s largely due to sluggish economic growth, strict labour laws, and bureaucratic hurdles that have weighed on the ability of local companies to hire additional workers.
Analysts also note that the education system fails to equip students with sufficient skills, and apartheid-era spatial planning hinders job seekers’ ability to enter and remain in the formal workforce.
