South Africa’s official unemployment rate climbed to 32.7% in the first quarter of 2026, a 1.3 percentage point increase from 31.4% in the previous quarter, according to new data from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey.
Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke confirmed that approximately 345,000 jobs were lost between January and March this year, while the number of unemployed persons actively looking for work rose by 31,000.
The youth unemployment rate increased by two percentage points, now standing at 45.8%.
Provincial and Sectoral Breakdown
KwaZulu-Natal was the only province that recorded job gains, adding 6,000 positions. All other provinces experienced job losses, with some shedding as many as 80,000 jobs. The Western Cape and Limpopo, which do not generally lose as many jobs, also recorded declines.
Maluleke explained the provincial dynamics: “When you have massive job losses … we would expect that most provinces would not cut it. The province of KwaZulu Natal is the one that made it.”
Construction was the hardest-hit sector, losing 110,000 jobs. Community and social services followed with 26,000 job losses, and private households shed approximately 28,000 jobs.
Manufacturing and mining recorded gains of 38,000 and 32,000 jobs respectively, but these were insufficient to offset the overall trend.
First Quarter Pressures
The Statistician-General noted that the first quarter typically sees an influx of young people who have completed matric or tertiary examinations entering the labour market to actively seek employment.
“We have seen a trend even last year about this time where we saw a lot of jobs that were lost,” Maluleke said.
Alarming NEET Figures
Of the 10.3 million young people aged 15 to 24, approximately 3.9 million are not in employment, education or training (NEET), representing a rate of about 37%.
“It’s the first time in my career as statistician-general that I have seen the number of those that are not in employment, education or training inching closer to 4 million,” Maluleke stated. “It has always been sitting at about 3.2 million, 3.3 million.”
Gender Disparities
Black African women remain the most vulnerable group in the labour market. Their official unemployment rate exceeds 46%, but when including discouraged work seekers and those in the potential labour force, the combined unemployment rate for Black African women reaches 53%.
“More than half of women of working age who are Black African are not working or are not able to find employment,” Maluleke said.
For young Black African women aged 15 to 24, the unemployment rate is even more staggering at 60.9%.