Unemployment stats paint ‘distorted reality’ – labour expert
A labour expert feels the country's employment figures tend to paint a skewed picture of the reality faced by ordinary South Africans.
"Quarterly review surveys often tell us we have created, say, another 5,000 jobs, but within a month, they have all disappeared because it is partial employment. The real figures should tell us these are permanent jobs," says Michael Bagraim.
Bagraim's been speaking ahead of Tuesday's release of the quarterly labour force results for the first quarter.
It's a household-based sample survey conducted by Stats SA, which collects data on the labour market activities of people 15 years of age and older.
The official unemployment rate was 32,1% in the fourth quarter of 2023.
READ: No big change expected in unemployment rate
Bagraim feels the government's overstated job growth despite the low unemployment rate.
"Forty per cent unemployment in South Africa is the expanded definition, and it is almost the worst in the world. Students who are coming out of school from tertiary education are pretty low down, and in some provinces, there is almost 70% unemployment for the youth."
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