Chief economist at Nedbank Dennis Dykes says unemployment in South Africa can only be alleviated if the economy improves.
Statistics South Africa revealed an increase in the unemployment rate on Tuesday. It reported that the number of unemployed people increased by 62 000 to 6.2-million in the first quarter of the year.
The country’s unemployment rate was recorded at 27.6% in the first quarter of this year from 27.1% in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Dykes has warned that unemployment will continue to worsen in South Africa if the government does not change its policies and restructure the labour market.
“I would be very surprised if we see big improvements in employment, for another two quarters at least, and then hopefully we’ll start making a dent. The economy had problems during the course of this quarter. We had the elections and people are still bruised from the load shedding. Again, there will probably be a wait and see attitude.”
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