Fin24 reports that SA’s official unemployment rate increased to a record 32.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020 as the number of jobless in the country grew to 7.2 million.

Statistics SA released its Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) on Tuesday, which showed that the increasing unemployment rate was due to more people joining the labour force, as economists expected. According to Stats SA, one million more people joined the labour force. In total there were 333,000 job gains to reach 15 million in the final quarter of 2020. Stats SA said the increase in the unemployment rate to 32.5% was the highest since the QLFS started in 2008. The expanded definition of unemployment – which includes those discouraged from seeking work – increased to 42.6% in the fourth quarter.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lameez Omarjee at Fin24

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page