South Africa’s unemployment rate rises as 8.6 million remain jobless

South Africa’s unemployment crisis has deepened, with the official unemployment rate increasing to 33.7% in the third quarter of 2026, despite more than 100 000 additional people finding work.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) released its latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey on Tuesday, 10 November, showing that the official unemployment rate increased from 33.6% in the second quarter.

Unemployment number hit 8.6 million

The number of employed people increased by 101 000 to 16.8 million between July and September. However, the number of unemployed people also increased, rising by 97 000 to approximately 8.6 million.

This resulted in the country’s labour force growing by 198 000 during the quarter, as more people entered or remained in the job market.

Deputy Director for the Quarterly Labour Force Survey at Stats SA, Dimakatso Maloka, said finance, manufacturing and mining were among the industries that contributed to employment growth.

Finance recorded the largest increase, adding 111 000 jobs. Manufacturing added 33 000, while mining employment increased by 31 000.

However, employment declined in three industries.

Private households recorded the largest decrease, shedding 68 000 jobs, followed by agriculture, which lost 34 000, and construction, which shed 8 000.

Formal sector gains offset by losses elsewhere

The survey showed that formal-sector employment increased by 268 000 to 12.3 million in the third quarter.

However, informal-sector employment declined by 98 000, while the household sector recorded a decrease of 68 000.

Compared with the same quarter in 2025, total employment was down by 215 000.

The provincial figures were mixed.

The Western Cape recorded the largest employment increase, adding 48 000 jobs, followed by North West with 45 000, the Eastern Cape with 36 000 and Gauteng with 25 000.

Employment declined in the Free State and Mpumalanga.

Discouraged job-seekers increase

The latest figures also highlight the number of South Africans who have stopped actively looking for work.

The number of discouraged job-seekers increased by 70 000 to 3.7 million in the third quarter.

These are people who are available to work but are no longer actively seeking employment, often because they believe there are no suitable jobs available.

The broader measure of unemployment, which includes people in the potential labour force, increased to 44%, from 43.8% in the previous quarter.

Youth unemployment remains high

Youth unemployment remains one of the country’s biggest labour-market challenges.

The unemployment rate among people aged 15 to 34 edged down by 0.1 percentage point to 47.3%.

The number of unemployed young people decreased by 23 000 to five million. However, youth employment also declined, falling by 5 000 to 5.5 million.

The latest figures underline the difficulty South Africa faces in creating enough jobs to absorb people entering the labour market, with the modest quarterly increase in employment failing to prevent the overall unemployment rate from rising.