UNEMPLOYMENT, AN EXPERT’S TAKE

PwC economist Lulu Kugel says South Africa has retained its position as having the highest unemployment rate in the world.

The official unemployment rate of 35.3 per cent put the country ahead of Angola (32.9 per cent), Bosnia and Herzegovina (31 per cent) and Kosovo (25.8 per cent).

“Our current macroeconomic outlook sees real gross domestic product growth moderating to a new long-term average of around

1.5 per cent from 2024 onwards. Based on our statistical analysis of the relationship between economic and employment growth, this growth pace could create nearly two million jobs by 2030.

“However, at the same time, the country’s labour force will continue growing as more people enter the labour market after finishing secondary and tertiary education. Under our baseline scenario, the new jobs created by the end of the decade will not be enough to absorb all these new (unemployed) workers.

As a result, with current trends in mind, we expect the narrowly defined unemployment rate to increase to 39.3 per cent by 2030 from 35.3 per cent at the end of last year. It is likely that, under this baseline scenario, South Africa will remain in the top (worst) spot globally on both the total and the youth unemployment rate for the foreseeable future.”