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| ©Photo: Khaya Ngwenya |
South Africa's unemployment rate climbed in the first quarter after falling for four consecutive quarters the previous year, according to figures released on Tuesday, as the country grappled with historic power outages.
According to Statistics South Africa, unemployment grew to 32.9% in the first three months of 2023, up from 32.7% in the previous quarter.
Due to its failure to produce enough megawatts to fulfil demand, state power firm Eskom has enforced the worst power outages on record, leaving South Africans without energy for up to 10 hours each day.
However, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke stated that further research was needed to determine if persistent power outages influenced employment.
"When you look at areas like mining and manufacturing, they have lost employment, but it needs a further analysis," he told a media briefing.
The power crisis is crippling, affecting both homes and companies, and it is anticipated to strain many people's work situations as some enterprises struggle to stay open.
Africa's biggest industrialised economy has one of the worst jobless rates.
According to the government, the number of jobless persons was 7.933 million in January-March, up from 7.753 million in the final three months of 2022.
Youth unemployment is a significant problem at 46.5%, as those aged 15 to 34 make up more than half of the country's employable population of 40.6 million people between the ages of 15 and 64.
According to the broader definition of unemployment, which includes people discouraged from looking for work, 42.4% were unemployed in the fourth quarter, compared to 42.6% in the previous quarter of 2022.
