South Africa’s jobless rate reached 29.0% in the second quarter ended June 2019, the highest since 2003, according to data from Statistics South Africa.

When compared to the previous year, the rate increased by 1.8% and when compared to the previous quarter, the unemployment rate rose by 1.4%.

The number of unemployed persons increased by 573,000 when compared to the previous year.

The data also showed that employment increased by 0.2% (25,000) when compared to a year ago. Employment gains were largely driven by trade (210,000), finance and other business services (96,000) and manufacturing (45,000) in Q2 2019. Meanwhile, construction had the largest losses of 113,000 during the same period.

The formal sector saw an employment decrease of 1.3% in Q2 2019 when compared to Q2 2018. The informal sector recorded an increase of 7.8% while the agriculture sector fell by 0.2%.

Compared to Q2 2018, the working-age population increased by 601,000 or 1.6%. The labour force participation rate stood at 59.8%, up from 59.1% the previous year.

The percentage of young persons aged 15–24 years who were not in employment, education or training (NEET) increased from 31.6% in Q2 2018 to 32.3% in Q2 2019.