Economy

A country can only create the amount of jobs it is allowed to! Why we need to look at the latest unemployment stats in context

All countries have their own laws, regulations and policies and this to a very large extent determines the environment within which jobs can be created. Should such an environment not be “job creation friendly”, a country will not be able to create as many jobs as it otherwise could have. Job creation becomes even more difficult when a pandemic such as COVID-19 causes regular restrictions on an economy’s ability to grow and create jobs.

South Africa’s labour market slack persisted in 1Q21, unemployment rate remains elevated

Stats SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) data showed the economy lost 28 000 jobs in 1Q21 relative to 4Q20, while unemployment increased by 8 000 over the same period. Subsequently, the labour force declined by 20 000, resulting in the official unemployment rate of 32.6% compared to 32.5% in 4Q20 – i.e. official unemployment continued ticking up, reaching the highest level since 1Q1994.

Inflation jumps to 4.3% in April

CPI for April 2021

Consumer price inflation increased by 4.4% year-on-year as at the end of April 2021, which was greater than the 3.2% year-on-year increase from the previous month. After hovering around the bottom of the target band for a year, inflation increased sharply to close to the midpoint of the band.