20 000 people were employed in the last financial year while in other provinces the figures went down.
The Mpumalanga province was able to make gains in employment numbers, creating 20 000 jobs while national employment figures dropped.
Compared to last year’s statistics, Free State lost 48 000 jobs, Eastern Cape 31 000 while the North West shed 4 000.
Nationally, there are 9.8 million unemployed people in South Africa, of which 6.2 million are actively looking for work.
Employment gains were recorded in seven of the nine provinces in 2018.
The largest employment increases were recorded in Limpopo where 41 000 people were employed, giving that province an 18.9% unemployment rate compared to Mpumalanga (32.5%), Eastern Cape (35.6%), Free State (36.3%) and Gauteng (29.6%).
In Northern Cape the unemployment figures sit at 27% while Western Cape is at 20.4%, KZN 23% and North West 28%.
Gauteng added 22 000 jobs with Mpumalanga trailing at 20 000 followed by the Free State at 14 000.
The 14 000 employed in Free State this year is against the 48 000 people that were recorded as employed last year, one of the biggest loss.
Compared to last year, employment increased in KZN – recording the largest employment increase of 98 000 persons, followed by Western Cape with 95 000.
The national official unemployment rate increased by 0,3% compared to the same period last year.
In Northern Cape it went down by 1.9%, Mpumalanga 0.7% and Limpopo 0.4%.
(edited by MLM)
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