S.Africa's Unemployment Rate Hits 11 Yrs High at 29.1%

According to data from the South African Statistics Authority on Tuesday, the unemployment rate in South Africa rose from 29% to 29.1% in Q3 2019, hitting 11 years high.

This is the highest rate since the Bureau of Statistics began monitoring unemployment rates based on the quarterly labor force index in 2008.

The unemployment rate in Africa's most industry-based economy remains the highest for at least the last two decades.

According to data, the number of unemployed persons in South Africa reached 6.7 million by the end of the third quarter. The current population of South Africa is estimated at 58,795,249 as of October 2019, based on the latest United Nations data.

The industrial sector lost about 30 thousand jobs during the comparative period, followed by the construction sector, which saw the loss of 24 thousand jobs, while the mining sector & agriculture added 38 thousand jobs and the social services sector witnessed an increase of 56 thousand jobs.

Meantime, The government has began a campaign to create more jobs and boost investments, however, data revealed that there has been no progress so far.

By the end of today's trading, the South African rand fell  by more than 0.8 percent, bringing the dollar to 14.6831 ZAR.