Employment fell by 345 000 in the first quarter 2026 compared with the fourth quarter 2025. This is a normal seasonal event as in the first quarter 2025 employment dropped by 291 000 compared with the fourth quarter 2024.
Statistics South Africa said that the official unemployment rate rose to 32.7% in the first quarter from 31.4% in the fourth quarter.
The number of employed in the first quarter was 16.8 million. The number of unemployed persons was 8.1 million.
The number of persons employed in the formal sector fell by 189 000. The informal sector saw a 127 000 fall.
Sector split
There were increases in industry employment in manufacturing (38 000), mining (32 000) and agriculture (10 000).
On the other hand, there were declines in the community and social service (206 000), construction (110 000) and transport (30 000).
Provincial split
KwaZulu-Natal was the only province that observed an increase in employment with a 6 000 gain
The largest employment declines were observed in the North West (80 000), Gauteng (67 000), Mpumalanga (54 000), Eastern Cape (43 000) and Limpopo (43 000).
Consequently, the official unemployment rate increased in all the provinces except for KwaZulu-Natal between the fourth and first quarters.
This is in contarst to the fourth quarter 2025. Then, six provinces had an improvement in their provincial unemployment rates between the third and fourth quarters. The three provinces that showed a poorer performance were the Eastern Cape, the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.
Youth Unemployment
Statistics South Africa said that 37.6% of young people aged 15 years to 24 years old were not in employment, education or training (NEET). As young people have not had a chance to gain experience, their unemployment rates are higher than older people.
Accordingly, youth aged 15-24 years and 25-34 years continue to have the highest unemployment rates at 60.9% and 40.6%, respectively.
The NEET rate for females was higher than that of their male counterparts.
The gender disparity is evident among all age groups. Females have higher unemployment rates than males.
