Cautious optimism as unemployment remains high

ECONOMISTS are cautiously optimistic about South Africa's labour market, even as unemployment remains stubbornly high. According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), the national unemployment rate fell slightly to 31.9% in the third quarter of 2025. Cape Town added 40000 jobs during the same period — the highest quarterly gain among South African metros.

- MURRAY SWART [e-mail]

Economist, Dawie Roodt warned that the numbers don't tell the full story. “There was an increase in employment but there was also an increase in people who are just not looking for jobs anymore,’ he told the Cape Argus. “People have lost hope. Officially, unemployment numbers came down a little bit, but that doesn’t really say much. It is technically an improvement, but unemployment of close to 32% is just a horrible number”

Roodt said the country’s slow economic growth remains the key challenge. “The single most important underlying reason for this high number is that the South African economy is just not growing or not growing fast enough”

“Having said that, looking at the available data from various sources, I have a suspicion that, with a bit of luck, we are at the bottom of the unemployment cycle”