The stats are out and employment is up in the Western Cape by over 300 000 jobs! Not only this, the province also created the most jobs in the country for the data’s timeframe:
Western Cape (15 November 2023) — Employment in the Western Cape has gone up, as revealed in Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS).
The data shared showcased that employment levels are up by 22 000 jobs per quarter (0.8% increase) and 305 000 jobs year-on-year (12.6%) between quarter 3 of 2022 and quarter 3 of 2023.
These numbers also quantify the positive role the Western Cape has played in uplifting South Africa’s unemployment rates as a whole, as the province has created the highest number of jobs in our country for the above timeframe.
Moreover, unemployment rates have dropped by 4.3% year-on-year on the official definition (the biggest decrease in South Africa) and on the expanded definition, by 3.9% year on year.
Reflecting on the good news, Premier Alan Winde had the following to say:
“The statistics released [yesterday] show that where there is good and stable governance that creates the enabling environment there is a way to grow our economy and create more jobs for the residents of the Western Cape. And the results of the QLFS [yesterday], prove that we are on track.”
He continued, “In terms of the official unemployment rate, we are at 20.2% in Q3 of 2023. This is a significant 11.7% lower than South Africa’s official unemployment rate (of 31.9%) in the same quarter. This is still worryingly high, especially for younger job seekers who are a particular priority for this government, but these figures are showing that a different trajectory for this country ins possible.”
Mireille Wenger, Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities added:
“While we have more to do, I am proud of the results reflected in the data released [yesterday] , showing that the Western Cape not only created more jobs year-on-year than any other province, but that we also have the lowest unemployment rate, the lowest expanded unemployment rate as well as the highest absorption rate and highest labour force participation rate in South Africa.”
by 