Economics
South African Jobless Rate Rises to 27.6%, Near 15-Year High
- Construction industry cut 142,000 positions in first quarter
- Financial-services firms reduced employment by 94,000 people
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
South Africa’s unemployment rate climbed in the first quarter of 2019 as construction and financial-services firms cut positions.
The unemployment rate rose to 27.6% from 27.1% in the three months through December, Statistics South Africa said in report released Tuesday in the capital, Pretoria. The median estimate of six economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 27.4%.