23.02.202113:55:00UTC+00South Africa Unemployment Rate At Record High

South Africa jobless rate rose in the fourth quarter to a record high, data from Statistics South Africa showed on Tuesday.

The jobless rate rose to 38.2 percent in the fourth quarter from 37.5 percent in the third quarter. In the same quarter the previous year, the unemployment rate was 29.1 percent.

The latest unemployment rate was the highest since the series began in 2008.

The number of unemployed persons increased by 701,000 persons to 7.233 million in the fourth quarter from 6.533 million in the previous quarter.

The number of employed persons fell by 1.4 million to 15.024 million in the December quarter from a year ago.