By Naledi Ngcobo

The unemployment rate accelerated by 0.8% in the first quarter of this year to reach 32.9% up from 32.1% in the fourth quarter of last year.

The Statis SA figures showed that unemployed persons increased by 330 000 to 8.2 million in the first quarter of 2024.

Independent economist Elize Kruger says the suspension of rolling blackouts may have positively impacted on the mooted employment figures.

“I do expect to see a small tick down on the unemployment rate given that we’ve had a bitter economic environment in quarter two. We had load shedding reprieve for the whole of the quarter. We are seeing that the sectoral data is more positive for quarter two and we are expecting a positive growth rate overall compared to the contraction in quarter one,” says Kruger.

She adds that election-related employment could have boosted the number in quarter two.

-SABC--