JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's unemployment rate dropped to 33.9 percent in the second quarter of this year, down 0.6 percentage points from the previous quarter's 34.5 percent, Statistics South Africa has said.
"These results indicate that 648,000 jobs were gained between the first quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2022," Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said Tuesday in the latest Quarterly Labor Force Survey.
The most significant gains in employment occurred in community and social services, trade, finance, and construction. In contrast, manufacturing and transport lost jobs, according to the survey.
Youth remain vulnerable in the labor market, with the number of jobless aged 15-34 totaling 4.8 million in the second quarter, up 2.0 percent from that of the previous quarter.
Dawie Roodt, senior economist at Efficient Group, told Xinhua that companies are hiring as they recover from the pandemic's lockdown.
"The economy went through a huge lockdown over the last two years. The economy is getting better and companies are starting to employ more people," he said.
"Things are returning to normality. We are likely to do more of this in the next two quarters but not beyond that unless the economy grows at 5 percent," Roodt said. ■