💼 Jobs
Unemployment, and the youth job queue — 3 figures, each linked to its official source.
The number
0.0%
What it means
About 1 in every 3 South Africans who want work cannot find it.
The Braai Test
Invite 10 friends to a braai. Three of them are job-hunting. Seven have work. That's today's reality.
Trend
The number
0.0%
What it means
This is the youth figure Stats SA headlines: nearly 1 in 2 young people looking for work can't find any.
The Braai Test
Gather 10 young job-hunters around the fire. Five of them are still looking for work when the sun comes up.
Trend
The number
0.0%
What it means
Stats SA's youngest reporting band starts at 15, the legal working age in SA. Nearly 2 in 3 who look for work find none.
The Braai Test
If SA's youth were a soccer team of 11, about 7 would be sitting on the bench waiting to play.
Trend
On the bright side
More South Africans have jobs than ever before
Around 17 million people are employed today — up from about 8 million in 1994. Nowhere near enough, but millions of new jobs is real progress nobody talks about.
Source: Stats SA – Quarterly Labour Force Survey (P0211)The hustle economy is huge
Millions of South Africans earn a living in their own small businesses, spaza shops and street trading. The informal sector is one of the country's biggest job creators.
Source: Stats SA – Quarterly Labour Force Survey (P0211)