Bloomberg reports that South Africa has the worst unemployment rate in the world following the release of new figures and places them on top of a list of 82 countries.
The list is monitored by Bloomberg and after the announcement from StatsSA that the jobless rate rose to 34.4% in the second quarter up from 32.6% in the first three months of the year, South Africa has surged to the top of the global unemployment rankings. But many of the countries on the list have outdated data, which is only mild comfort for jobless South Africans and a battling local economy struggling to recover from Covid-19 and July’s unrest following the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma.
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by StatsSA on Tuesday, 7.8 million people are out of work, which makes this the highest unemployment rate since the survey started in 2008.
While even more alarmingly, the expanded definition of unemployment, which includes those who are able to work but not looking for a job, has increased from 43.2% to 44.4% and this is only likely to worsen in the third quarter this year as the effects of further government lockdowns in the wake of the third wave of coronavirus infections hampers the economic recovery.
Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago briefed parliament last week where he noted that employment levels were trailing behind GDP recovery as the country emerges from the pandemic, which caused the economy to shrink by 7% in 2020.
While earnings have returned to pre-pandemic levels, there is a clear need for jobs and pressure will be increased on government to continue relief measures to help those who are out of work, but this could further hamper the government purse strings.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
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Liquor sales ban: National government must manage a national disaster, court hears – Fin24
Global Business
Amazon Disrupts Retail (Again) With New Department Stores – Forbes
Goldman Requires Vaccines and Masks at Work to Fight Variant – Daily Maverick
Citi considering bitcoin futures trading for some institutional clients – Reuters
Markets
Dollar Up, but Near One-Week Low Over Receding COVID-19 Fears – Investing.com
Asian markets mixed after strong start to week – AFP
Stocks and oil extend gains, Wall Street sets records – AFP
In-depth
Jacob Zuma Foundation: A public benefit organisation, or for the benefit of one man only? – Daily Maverick
Murder of Gauteng health official Babita Deokaran: Investigators probe link to her PPE whistle-blowing – Daily Maverick
It’s Time To Talk About Easing Trump’s China Tariffs – Forbes
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