Johannesburg, Aug 13 (IANS): South Africa's unemployment rate rose to 33.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) Tuesday.

A fall in employment and an increase in unemployment "resulted in the official unemployment rate increasing by 0.6 of a percentage point from 32.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 to 33.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2024," said Stats SA, which released the quarterly labour force data Tuesday.

"In comparison to the first quarter of 2024, the expanded unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2024 increased by 0.7 of a percentage point to 42.6 per cent," it said. The expanded jobless rate includes discouraged jobseekers who have given up on searching for a job, Xinhua news agency reported.

Stats SA noted that the number of employed persons decreased by 92,000 to 16.7 million in the second quarter of 2024, while the number of unemployed persons increased by 158,000 to 8.4 million compared with the first quarter.

According to Stats SA, employment losses were recorded in the formal sector (down by 77,000), the agricultural sector (down by 45,000) and private households (down by 18,000) in the second quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, informal sector employment increased by 48,000 during the period.