South Africa’s unemployment rate surged to the highest on a global list of 82 countries monitored by Bloomberg.
The jobless rate rose to 34.4% in the second quarter from 32.6% in the three months through March, Statistics South Africa said Tuesday in a report released in the capital, Pretoria. The median of three economists’ estimates in a Bloomberg survey was 33.2%.
Unemployment according to the expanded definition, which includes people who were available for work but not looking for a job, rose to 44.4%.
While the unemployment rate is now the highest of the countries tracked by Bloomberg, the data from some of those nations is outdated.
Key Points:
- Finance industry lost 278,000 jobs.
- Community, social services lost 166,000 jobs.
- Manufacturing lost 83,000 jobs.
- Construction added 143,000 jobs.
- Agriculture added 69,000 jobs.
