KZN unemployment projected to surge to 27%
KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala says unemployment is projected to surge to about 30% nationally - and 27% in KwaZulu-Natal this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He gave a virtual keynote address at a Workers' Parliament on Tuesday - where he outlined the economic impact of COVID-19.
Zikalala says due to tourism and the manufacturing sectors being severely affected - the KZN economy is expected to shrink by about 8%.
"Absorption of new entrants into the labour market is also expected to fall due to structural rigidities associated with the hiring of labour during the lockdown. We expect employment levels to fall in the formal economy -particularly in tourism related sectors and manufacturing - and again in the informal sectors."
He says macroeconomic stability has been severely affected.
"Macroeconomic instability will persist for a long time. Exchange rate depreciation is going to impact on us as it's expected that it will be between 15-18%. Trade - exports and imports - is expected to decline.
GDP growth for the 2nd quarter estimated to shrink by 7%."
