Bureau for Economic Research expects unemployment rate to marginally increase

Source: EWN Traffic
Author: Nokukhanya Mntambo

JOHANNESBURG - Some analysts expect the unemployment rate to increase again in the first quarter of the year, as jobseekers battle to find work in the labour market.

The country's unemployment crisis will again be in the spotlight on Tuesday morning, when Statistics SA releases its quarterly labour force survey.

The current unemployment rate sits at 32.1%.

The Bureau for Economic Research is among those that have now forecast another increase in the unemployment rate, even if marginally.

This will only make matters worse for a country that already has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, leaving millions of people in a poverty trap.

The unemployment crisis has become a hot-button issue in the build-up to elections as political parties woo voters with the promise of jobs.

The African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Build One South Africa (BOSA) and ActionSA have all put job creation at the top of their agendas.

Rise Mzansi spokesperson Mabine Seabe said the party will also unveil its plan for more jobs and a better-performing economy on Tuesday.

"Rise Mzansi's new and just economy will radically reorient South Africa towards the kind of industrial growth that will put 3 million South Africans in sustainable jobs by 2029, towards a target of full employment by 2044."

Some critics have raised concerns about a lack of a workable plan by most parties to create jobs.