Statistics South Africa data shows that the unemployment rate rose by 0.9 percentage points, from 32.7% in the first quarter to 33.6% in the second quarter of the year.

The data indicates that the number of unemployed persons increased by 345 000 to 8.5 million, while the number of employed persons decreased by 16 000 to 16.7 million.

BREAKING NEWS: South Africa’s unemployment rate has risen to 33.6 percent in the second quarter, up 0.9 of a percentage point from the previous quarter. For more visit https://t.co/TS6YUmN424 pic.twitter.com/4BsfBfbEJi

— SABC News (@SABCNews) August 11, 2026

Discouraged job-seekers decreased by 227 000 to 3.7 million, other available job-seekers decreased by 49 000 to 861 000 and unavailable job-seekers decreased by 4 000 to 44 000, resulting in a net decrease of 280 000 to 4.6 million in the potential labour force.

Those outside the labour force for other reasons increased by 72 000 to 12.5 million. Persons outside the labour force, which is the total of those in potential labour force and others outside the labour force, decreased by 208 000 to 17.1 million in the second quarter of 2026.

#SAunemployment || Employment decreases were mainly in the Community and social services, Mining, Agriculture and Manufacturing industries.

Read more here: https://t.co/UdxPIzVzBN#StatsSA #KnowYourStatsZA #GovZAUpdates #SAemployment #SAMining #SAAgriculture #SAManufacturing pic.twitter.com/dY9PXgcoz5

— Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) (@StatsSA) August 11, 2026

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