Mashatile concerned about the increase in unemployment

Deputy President Paul Mashatile says the increasing unemployment rate in certain sectors of the economy is worrying.

This week, Statistics South Africa released figures showing that the unemployment level has increased by 0.2%, with construction among the worst affected sectors.

Mashatile was speaking at a Human Resources Development Council meeting in Pietermaritzburg as part of an oversight visit to the province.

The council is made up of some cabinet ministers, government officials and academics to help government streamline its programmes.

Mashatile says the agricultural sector has however continued to create jobs.

“As we are meeting three days since Stat SA released a quarter one of 2023 results of the quarterly labour survey. According to this result, the official unemployment rate increased by 0.2% when compared to results of 4th quarter of 2022. One of the industries that has seen employment decrease is the construction industry. One of the three sectors the Stat SA has also noted in its recent release as having recorded the largest employment gain is the agricultural sector.”

Deputy President Mashatile addresses Human Resource Development Council meeting in KZN: