South Africa's unemployment rate rose by 0,9 percentage points quarter-on-quarter to 25,2% in the first quarter of this year, and while this could, in part, be ascribed to seasonal impacts, seasonality could not entirely be blamed for the job losses, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reported on Tuesday.

Stats SA DDG population and social statistics Kefiloe Masiteng said at a briefing in Pretoria that the quarter ended March 31, 2010, had shown a decline in employment, but added that this was not at the rates seen in the first three quarters of 2009.

However, the unemployment rate had increased by 1,7 percentage points on the 23,5% unemployment rate recorded in the first quarter of 2009.

Year-on-year, the number of employed persons dropped by 833 000, while the number of unemployed persons increased by 126 000 and the number of discouraged persons grew by 624 000 in the first quarter of this year.

The number of employed persons in South Africa declined by 171 000, while the number of unemployed people grew by 145 000 and the number of discouraged persons had grown by 153 000 between the first quarter and the fourth quarter of last year.

The finance and construction industries had shed the most quarter-on-quarter jobs, while the trade and manufacturing sectors had shed the most jobs year-on-year.

Masiteng noted that all provinces except for KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape had been hard hit by job losses during the quarter. The Limpopo province had recorded the most job losses with 51 000 jobs lost quarter-on-quarter.

This was followed by Gauteng with 46 000 jobs lost quarter-on-quarter.

In terms of the year-on-year figures, Gauteng had recorded 327 000 job losses, the North West province 108 000 jobs and KwaZulu-Natal 96 000 jobs.

Meanwhile, unemployment had increased among all population groups during the quarter, except for the Indian community, which had seen its unemployment rate improving to 9,2%, on the 11,1% recorded in the December 2009 quarter and on the 12,7% rate recorded in the first quarter of 2009.

Unemployment was highest among those in the 15 to 24 year age group, while the unemployment rate for women, at 27,3%, was also higher than the national average.

Stats SA further pointed out that the number of job seekers who had become discouraged had increased by 624 000 year-on-year, with a third, or 213 000, of these persons living in KwaZulu-Natal.