BusinessLive reports that SA’s unemployment rate improved in the 2017 fourth quarter from the third, as might be expected for a quarter that usually brings a temporary hiring boost thanks to the holiday season.  

Unemployment from September to December was estimated at 26.7%, Statistics SA said in its quarterly labour force survey on Tuesday.  That was a whole percentage point better than the 27.7% seen in the July-September quarter.  Unemployment in the fourth quarter of 2016 was 26.5%.  The number of unemployed people fell to 5.88-million, from 6.21-million in the third quarter, and compared with 5.78-million in the final quarter of 2016.  Looking at various economic sectors' performance during the quarter, jobs were lost in the following sectors: Finance and other business services (92,000); Mining (39,000); Trade (25,000); Transport (5,000); and Utilities (4,000).  Manufacturing added 13,000 jobs, the highest number added.  Construction, and community and social services, added 7,000 jobs each.

• Read this report by Tammy Foyn and Sunita Menon in full at BusinessLive
• Read too, Unemployment rate drops to 26.7%, at Business Report

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