South Africa’s unemployment rate dropped for the first time this year in the third quarter as the construction, community and trade industries added jobs.
The jobless rate declined to 31.9% in the three months through September, from 33.2% in the prior quarter, according to data released by Statistics South Africa in Pretoria on Tuesday. That’s the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2024.
The outcome is a boost for an economy with one of the world’s highest jobless rates, struggling under a 30% tax on some of its exports to the US — the steepest in sub-Saharan Africa — alongside ...