South Africa Q3 unemployment drops to 31.9% amid mixed labour market signals

PRETORIA– South Africa’s unemployment rate fell to 31.9% in the third quarter of 2025, down 1.3 percentage points from the previous quarter, as employment gains in construction and social services offset a shrinking labour force, official data showed on Tuesday.

The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) reported a net increase of 248,000 employed persons, lifting total employment to 17.1 million, while unemployment declined by 360,000 to 8.0 million.

The labor force contracted by 0.4% (112,000 people) as discouraged job seekers rose to 3.5 million and other inactive populations grew.

Sectoral shifts underscored uneven recovery: construction (+130,000), community/social services (+116,000), and trade (+108,000) drove job growth, while manufacturing (-62,000) and finance (-54,000) saw steep declines.

Provincial gains were led by Western Cape (+70,000) and KwaZulu-Natal (+54,000), though Eastern Cape shed 53,000 jobs.

Broader labour under utilisation metrics improved marginally, with the composite measure (LU4) at 44.9%, down 0.6 points from Q2.

Revised international standards for formal/informal sector definitions showed 12 million in formal employment, 4.0 million informal, and 1.1 million in household roles, though historical comparisons are invalid.

The data highlights persistent structural challenges despite the headline rate improvement, with 16.9 million outside the labour force and underemployment pressures lingering