Eastern Cape’s unemployment rate falls for third time in a row

The Eastern Cape has recorded its third consecutive decrease in unemployment in the province as stated in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the fourth quarter of 2022. Since 2020 approximately 20 000 people have been employed in the province.

The province dropped drastically from 47.9% in Quarter 4 of 2020 to 42.1% in Quarter 4 of 2022. However it still remains the highest in the country under the crippling economy, and it is above the national level of 32.7%.

Young people in the Eastern Cape tackle high unemployment: 

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Eastern Cape premier, Oscar Mabuyane, says the aim is to attract and maintain good relations with potential investors to further lower unemployment in the province.

“It’s a response to a plan to fight the high unemployment rate in the province. I know this is a very difficult task, it’s not an easy task at all that’s why we have embarked on massive recruitment of investment. Working on our investment arrangements to make sure that any potential investor that we can actually use in the Eastern Cape we protect it, but also we make life very easy to invest in our province.”

Economist, Professor Ronney Ncwadi, says the decrease in unemployment symbolises a recovering economy. He says it is a good sign of an active economy.

“The growth in the employment figures is a result of the recovery. We had a shock due to COVID-19 where both demand and supply declined because of the lockdowns. But a symbol of a recovering economy is always shown by the amount of employment that it creates, so, what is saving us is trade.”