South Africa’s jobless rate decreased by 1.0% in the fourth quarter of 2017 to 26.7%, when compared to the previous quarter, according to the results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey from Statistics South Africa.

Figures from the survey showed that unemployment fell by 330,000 on the quarter. However, employment also showed a decrease of 21,000 for the same period and the labour force participation rate declined by 1.1% to 58.8% in the fourth quarter. Compared to the Q4 2016, employment increased by 102,000 or 0.6 per cent while unemployment grew by 99,000 or 1.7%, year-on-year.

Formal sector employment declined by 135,000, quarter-on-quarter, while informal sector employment increased by 119, 000 compared to the third quarter of 2017.

The expanded unemployment rate, which relaxes the requirement of job search to be classified as unemployed, declined from 36.8% to 36.3% at the national level in the fourth quarter, when compared to the previous quarter.