By Enyichukwu Enemanna
South Africa’s official unemployment rate rose by 0.9 percentage points, hitting 33.6 percent in the second quarter of 2026, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said Tuesday.
This is despite months of anti-immigration protests that drove thousands of Africans out of the country. Promoters had alleged that Nigerians, Malawians, Zimbabweans, Ghanaians and other nationals across Africa were responsible for lack of jobs for South Africans.
Analysts said thousands of jobs were lost in informal sector as small businesses providing employment for South Africans closed down arising from xenophobic demonstrations.
Stats SA released the latest Quarterly Labor Force Survey in Pretoria, showing that the number of unemployed people increased by 345,000 to 8.5 million during the quarter, while the number of employed people fell by 16,000 to 16.7 million.
The community and social services sector recorded the largest decline in employment, shedding 57,000 jobs, followed by mining with 26,000 and agriculture and manufacturing with 15,000 each.
Meanwhile, trade recorded the largest employment gain, adding 70,000 jobs, followed by construction with 39,000 and finance with 11,000, according to Stats SA.
Youth unemployment remained a major source of concern for the government.
The unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 34 increased by 1.5 percentage points to 47.4 percent in the second quarter. The country had 5.6 million employed youths, while 5 million were not employed, the agency added.
