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Youth unemployment rose to 43.8% among 15-to-34-year-olds in Q4 2025, even as the headline rate fell. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Unemployment rate eases but structural crisis deepens

The decline brings the official rate to its lowest level since the Covid-19 shock pushed unemployment above 30%

  • Stella Mapenzauswa
4 min read
Bias for academic qualifications over vocational training has led to an undersupply of skills in crucial areas such as equipping people to become artisans and entrepreneurs.

Skills gap devours young people’s dreams

Youth unemployment is a crisis but educational reforms have the potential to turn the rising tide

5 min read
The market requires entrepreneurialism, innovation, critical thinking, decisiveness and problem-solving abilities, but most schools and tertiary institutions don’t support this. Photo: AFP

New world of work requires new minds

Activity-based and experiential learning should be encouraged at school and tertiary institutions so that the academic curricula must align with new realities.

6 min read
Employers and domestic workers can contribute a national domestic workers’ pension fund operated through mobile-based platforms for easy registration and tracking contributions. (File photo)

Union demands pension fund for domestic workers

About 850 000 people are employed as domestic workers in South Africa, contributing to 5.2% of the country’s total employment

  • Umamah Bakharia
4 min read
Unemployed men inJohannesburg wait on a street corner for work for part-time work. Photo: Naashon Zalk/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Unemployment in South Africa is a national crisis, say analysts

With joblessness at a two-year high of 33.5%, more effort is needed to restructure the jobs market

  • Eyaaz
7 min read
On the up: Unemployment increased to 33.5% in the last quarter. ​​​​(Dino Lloyd/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Unemployment rises to 33.5% in the second quarter

Joblessness increased for the third consecutive quarter, reaching its highest level in two years

2 min read
The rise in people employed in the sector is driven by increased production in field crops, forestry and aquaculture. (Photo by MUJAHID SAFODIEN / AFP)

Agriculture increases jobs by 10%, 2023 Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows

The rise in people employed in the sector is driven by increased production in field crops, forestry and aquaculture

  • Eyaaz
2 min read