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The African National Congress (ANC) welcomes the latest unemployment rate figures, which shows that unemployment has declined from 32.9% in the third quarter of last year to 31.9% in the third quarter of this year, 2023.

The number of people employed has increased by nearly 1 million (979 000) year on year, with over 16.7 million people now employed in the South African economy up from 15.7m last year, surpassing the pre-pandemic employment level of about 16.5 million.

A key driver of employment has been the creation of 134 000 new jobs in the construction sector in the past year. This is the result of economic reforms implemented by the ANC-led government, which have boosted increased infrastructure investment including significant new investment in roof-top solar systems and other electricity-related investment.

Increased employment in finance (about 450 000 new jobs in the past year) is testament to the ANC-led government’s overall prudent management of the economy and the increase in employment linked to community and social services (about 235 000 new jobs) has been assisted amongst other things by the success of the Presidential Employment Stimulus programme.

Among graduates, unemployment has decreased to 8.5%, down from 10.7% last year. Graduates continue to experience the lowest unemployment rate, when unemployment is considered by education level, as such the ANC remains committed to sustaining policies to increase access to higher education for students from poor and working class families. The number of individuals not in training or employment has declined from 34.5% of those between 15 and 24 years, in the third quarter of 2022, to 32.7% in the third quarter of 2023. While this figure remains too high and must be reduced through ongoing policy interventions by the ANC-led government, the increased participation of young people in training or employment, signals that positive strides are being made in economic recovery and job creation.

The information contained in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey gives South African’s reason to hope. The improvement in our employment statistics is a testament to our ongoing efforts to address economic challenges and create opportunities for sustainable employment, as promised in the ANC’s 2023 manifesto.

We acknowledge that more work needs to be done in order to create more jobs and build a more thriving economy. We will not rest until we have reshaped and re-built South Africa into a fairer, more inclusive and more prosperous society.

Issued by ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri