Statement on the release of the 2016 Fourth Quarter Labour Force Survey Statistics
Free State Premier, Hon. Ace Magashule has noted the latest labour statistics as released by the official Statistics body, Statistics South Africa, yesterday, 14th February 2017.
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the October – December 2016 (4th Quarter), the Free State official unemployment rate increased by 0.6 of a percentage point from 34.2% in the 3rd Quarter to 34.7% in the 4th Quarter;
The Premier and the Free State Provincial Government is concerned about the increase in the unemployment rate in the province;
The Provincial Government shall conduct an in-depth analysis into the results, look at the conduct of both the public and private sectors, and further advance the implementation of the integrated service delivery model; Operation Hlasela, in order to turn the situation around;
There are a number of interesting findings emanating from the statistics; The following are some of our observations:
- Except for Limpopo, the unemployment rates in all provinces increased between the 4th Quarter of 2015 and the 4th Quarter of 2016;
- It is also notable that, between the 3rd Quarter and 4th Quarter of 2016, the Free State unemployment rate for non-metropolitan areas (excluding Mangaung) decreased by 0.7 of a percentage point, while that of the Metro increased by 3.6 percentage points. This trend is consistent with patters occurring in metro municipalities elsewhere. An example is the City of Cape Town;
- There is a general decline in the unemployment rates amongst Private Households in most provinces and non-metro areas. This trend was observed in Free State, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Gauteng, Western Cape non-metro areas, etc. This could be consequences of the effects of the global economic crisis on private households;
- Free State, as a province traditionally reliant on Agriculture and Mining, is feeling the impact of the drought as well as the general decline of mining production
- Through its radical economic transformation programme, the Free State government shall seek to ensure radical investment in infrastructure, create industrialists, and advance agro-processing and mineral beneficiation techniques;
- The Free State government has a plan to turn the current situation around.
Enquiries:
Tiisetso Makhele
Cell: 076 833 0033
