2019.10.2911:58:00UTC+00South Africa Unemployment Rate Climbs Further

South Africa's unemployment rate rose for a third consecutive quarter in the three months to September, figures from Statistics South Africa showed on Tuesday.

The jobless rate edged up to 29.1 percent from 29 percent in the previous three months. In the same quarter last year, the rate was 27.5 percent. The number of employed grew by 62,000 persons sequentially to 16.37 million. The figure decreased by 5,000 persons from the same period last year.

Unemployment grew by 78,000 persons from the previous quarter to 6.73 million. The figure rose by 524,000 from the same quarter last year. This is the fifth consecutive increase in the number of unemployed persons in the third quarter of the year since the third quarter of 2014, when a decrease of 3,000 was observed, the agency said. The youth unemployment rate, which applies to the 15-24 age group, rose to 32.3 percent from 31.1 percent in the same period last year.