JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 21– The unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2023 in South Africa slightly increased to 32.1 percent, the country’s statistical service said Tuesday. The number of unemployed persons rose 46,000 to 7.9 million during the same quarter, leading to a 0.2 percent increase in the official unemployment rate from the third quarter of last year, the Statistic South Africa said in a quarterly labor force survey. “Employment losses were observed in the formal sector and the agricultural sector, while informal sector and private households employment increased in the fourth quarter of 2023,” it added. The South African economy has not fully recovered from the effects of COVID-19, with some sectors yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, the economy has been further impacted by geopolitical conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Xinhua
