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By Anita Dangazele
- Stats SA says 8.1 million South Africans are officially unemployed, with the economy shedding 345,000 jobs between January and March 2026 alone.
- Young people between 15 and 24 face a 60.9% unemployment rate, while the broader unemployment rate including discouraged jobseekers sits at 43.7%.
Six in ten young South Africans between the ages of 15 and 24 are unemployed. That is not a trend. That is a generation being left behind.
Statistics South Africa released its Quarterly Labour Force Survey on Tuesday, covering the first three months of 2026. The numbers are brutal. The economy shed 345,000 jobs between January and March. More than 301,000 people joined the unemployment queue in the same period. The official unemployment rate climbed from 31.4% in the last quarter of 2025 to 32.7%, with 8.1 million South Africans now officially out of work.
The situation is even worse when including people who have given up looking altogether. That broader rate sits at 43.7%.
Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said young people are bearing the heaviest burden. Those between 15 and 24 face a 60.9% unemployment rate. For those between 25 and 34, it sits at 40.6%.
The biggest job losses were recorded in services and construction. There were small gains in manufacturing, mining and agriculture.
In Nelson Mandela Bay, the Business Chamber warned that the metro’s unemployment rate jumped from 28.2% to 29.8% in a single quarter. Chief Executive Denise van Huyssteen said the long-term picture is even more alarming. The proportion of working-age residents in employment has dropped from 45.3% in 2015 to just 39.8% in 2026.
“The Eastern Cape losing 43,000 jobs in a single quarter is a stark reminder of the fragility of our regional economy,” van Huyssteen said.
The EFF called the figures catastrophic, noting that South Africa’s unemployment rate has stayed above 30% for more than five consecutive years, one of the highest rates in the world.
KwaZulu-Natal was the only province that recorded an increase in employment, adding 6,000 jobs. The steepest losses were in North West, which shed 80,000 jobs, followed by Gauteng with 67,000.
Pictured above: A jobseeker.
Image source: @Careersportal/X
