South Africa’s (SA) official unemployment rate falls to 31.9% in the third quarter of 2025.

Statistic SA data shows the official unemployment rate decreased dropped to 31.9% from 33.2% in the preceding quarter.

The latest Quarterly Labour Force Surve shows the primary driver of the decreased official rate was an increase of 248 000 in the number of employed persons, pushing the total employment figure to 17.1 million.

The number of unemployed persons decreased by 360 000 to 8.0 million.

The number of discouraged jobseekers, individuals who want to work but have stopped actively looking, increased by 36 000 during the quarter, bringing the total to 3.5 million.

The weak economic growth negatively impacts jobs creation prospects.

Young people continue to bare the brant of the high unemployment.

Data shows more than four in every ten young people aged between 15 and 34 were not in employment, education or training in the third quarter.

–SABC–