Cabinet has welcomed the results of Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the third quarter of 2022, which indicated that 204 000 jobs were gained between the second and third quarters of 2022.
“While this increase may be viewed as a drop in the ocean, it does show that the strategies to grow employment are starting to yield positive results.
“Cabinet acknowledges that the country has a long way to go and more work needs to be done to address the challenge of unemployment in the country,” Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said.
Gungubele was speaking on Thursday during a media briefing on the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, 30 November 2022.
The Quarterly Labour Force Survey also revealed that the total number of persons employed in the third quarter of 2022 was 15,8 million.
This means that the official unemployment rate decreased by 1,0 percentage point from 33,9% in the second quarter to 32,9% in the third quarter of 2022.
The unemployment rate according to the expanded definition of unemployment also decreased by 1,0 percentage point to 43,1% in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the second quarter of 2022.
The largest jobs gain were recorded in manufacturing (123 000), followed by trade (82 000), construction (46 000), transport (33 000), and community and social services (27 000).
Cabinet further called on South Africans to continue to rally behind the country’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP) to ensure that as a country we keep the momentum of growing the economy and creating much-needed jobs.
Cabinet welcomes UK State Visit
Cabinet has also welcomed the historic Presidential State Visit to the United Kingdom (UK) that took place from 22 to 23 November 2022.
President Cyril Ramaphosa became the first Head of State to be hosted by the British monarch, His Majesty King Charles III, since his accession to the throne in September 2022.
“A Royal State Visit is the highest honour bestowed on a country by the UK to further promote bilateral relations and it also symbolises the importance the UK ascribes to its relations with a particular country,” Cabinet said.
The Presidential State Visit, which marked a continuation of the strong bilateral ties between South Africa and the UK, resulted in the launch of the next phase of the UK-South Africa Infrastructure Partnership.
The partnership supports South Africa’s economic growth through major infrastructure developments and offers increased access to UK companies in projects worth up to £5.37 billion over the next three years.
“The visit focused on upgrading trade and investment levels between the two countries, and also on creating more opportunities in British markets for South African goods and commodities. During the UK-SA Business Forum, numerous business opportunities on offer were profiled to UK investors who pledged their continued engagement with South Africa,” Cabinet said.
During the visit, South Africa and the UK also signed Memorandums of Understanding on Cooperation in Science and Innovation as well as Health Cooperation that would focus on vaccine manufacturing, genome sequencing and climate change.
Other outcomes from the visit included securing collaboration on infrastructure, clean technology and renewable energy sources.
Cabinet said that these opportunities hold the potential to unlock domestic trade, investment and boost job creation. –SAnews.gov.za
