After declining in the third and fourth quarters of 2025, South Africas unemployment rate reversed course in the first quarter of 2026.
Statistics South Africa Stats SA released its Quarterly Labour Force Survey QLFS on Tuesday, revealing that the unemployment rate rose by 1.3 percentage points, from 31.4 in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 32.7 in the first quarter of 2026.
Community and social services, construction and transport were among the industries that lost the most jobs during the period. Although not specified by Stats SA, it is suggested that jobs were lost due to retrenchments and company shutdowns.
