The unemployment rate in South Africa increased to 29 percent in the second quarter of 2019 from 27.6 in the previous period. It was the highest jobless rate since the first quarter of 2003, as the number of unemployed rose by 455 thousand to 6.65 million and employment rose by 21 thousand to 16.31 million. A year earlier, the jobless rate was lower at 27.2 percent. Unemployment Rate in South Africa averaged 25.71 percent from 2000 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 31.20 percent in the first quarter of 2003 and a record low of 21.50 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Unemployment Rate in South Africa is expected to be 28.50 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Unemployment Rate in South Africa to stand at 27.50 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the South Africa Unemployment Rate is projected to trend around 28.60 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.