South Africas unemployment rate surged more than expected to 32.7 in the first quarter of 2026 from 31.4 in the last three months of 2025, with young people yet again bearing the brunt of the national scourge.
The total number of employed people in the country decreased by 345,000 to 16.8-million, while that of people without jobs rose 301,000 to 8.1-million during the period, Stat SA said on Tuesday.
The number of discouraged job-seekers was up 178,000 to 3.9-million, other available job-seekers increased by 55,000 to 910,000, and unavailable job-seekers increased by 6,000 to 49,000, resulting in a total net increase of 240,000 to 4.9-million in the potential labour force population.
