The Premier of the Northern Cape, Dr Zamani Saul, notes the release of the first quarter (Q) of 2022 Labour Market statistics report by StatsSA. There have been positive developments in terms of employment creation for the province both on a quarter-on–quarter and year-on-year basis.

According to the report the Northern Cape had lower rates than the national average for both youth and adult unemployment rates in Q1 of 2022.

The total number of employed increased from 264,000 in 2021 Q4 to 321,000 in 2022 Q1 representing an increase of 57,196 or 21.6% in percentage terms. The year-on-year increase was 8,131 jobs translating to a 2.6 percent increase. There has also been improvements in the labour force participation rate to 52 percent year-on-year from 50.2 percent.

These numbers represent a slight decline in the unemployment rate quarter-on-quarter to 24.9 percent from 25% percent in the previous quarter. However the unemployment rate has risen on a year-on-year basis from 23.4 percent to 24.9 percent in the first quarter on this calendar year. The answer to this seeming anomalous phenomenon is explained by the number of discouraged work seekers which rose year-on-year but declined quarter-on-quarter.

Year-on-year the number of discouraged work seekers increased from 98,000 to 122,000 but declined from 136,000 quarter-on-quarter to 122,000. More people became less willing and also not actively looking for work over the annual period most likely as a result of diminishing employment prospects. This could be ascribed to a number of factors including the trajectory of the global pandemic.

The formal non-agricultural sector was responsible for expanding employment the most quarter-on quarter by almost 48,400 positions and the agriculture sector by over 8,300. The informal sector on the other hand expanded jobs by just fewer than 6,000. This sector has been consistent in adding to jobs over the recent period and shows great potential having also contributed the greatest share year-on-year at 11,410. It was followed by agriculture and private households in terms of contribution year-on-year with the formal non-agricultural sector having shed jobs on a year-on-year basis.

Government services continues to be the largest employer with over 105,000 employees constituting roughly one-third of provincial employees. The mining sector’s strong recovery has added a substantial number of jobs quarter-on-quarter at 19,760 with still positive job creation year-on-year of over 1,200.

We anticipate that strong growth in manufacturing, electricity generation and construction in the province in the future will add quality jobs to the provincial employment pool. With the announcement of new bid windows in terms of the renewable energy programme and some critical high impact projects in the province in planning and pre-feasibility stages that some momentum will be added to the abovementioned sectors. They will add a much needed boost to the related tertiary economic activities.

Media Enquiries
Ms. Bronwyn Thomas- Abrahams, Spokesperson to the Premier, 083 447 6586, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." ' + path + '\'' + prefix + ':' + addy75748 + '\' style="transition: color 400ms ease 0s, background-color 400ms ease 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">'+addy_text75748+'<\/a>'; //-->
Issued by the Office of the Premier
3 June 2022