South Africa's latest unemployment data ‘shows promise’ - economist
A local economist says the drop in the unemployment rate, although small, is encouraging.
Stats SA said on Tuesday the figure came down to 32.6% in the second quarter of the year from 32.9% the previous three months.
READ: South Africa's jobless rate drops by 0.3%
One hundred and fifty-four thousand jobs were added in Q2, taking the number of employed people to 16.3 million.
KwaZulu-Natal recorded the third largest employment gains after Limpopo and the Western Cape.
Economist Bonke Dumisa says load shedding is what's holding back many sectors.
"We just hope that with Dr (Minister of Electricity) Ramokgopa as he is always giving us updates all the time, that the whole thing can be dealt with because it is really destroying our economy.
"So that mere fact that the employment figures improved despite it and in spite of it does not necessarily mean that we must shout less about its negative effect on the economy."
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Dumisa says it's also good to see the youth actively seeking employment, but he believes their chances could improve with changes to the education system.
"In South Africa, we have got a structural unemployment problem. Our education system as a whole is producing people who are not fit for the purpose of our economy.
