South African Jobless Rate Rises as Economy Struggles
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South Africa’s unemployment rate rose for a fourth consecutive quarter in the first three months of this year as companies shed jobs while waiting for signs that the recovery in Africa’s largest economy is sustainable.
The jobless rate, the highest of 62 countries tracked by Bloomberg, increased to 25.2 percent from 24.3 percent in the final three months of last year, Statistics South Africa said in a report released in Pretoria today. The number of people with jobs dropped by 171,000 to 12.8 million.