StatsSA’s Quarter 1 2014 Labour Force Survey, released today, highlights once again that the Western Cape is the leading province in terms of job creation in South Africa.
While South Africa has seen a drastic increase in its unemployed population – in the last quarter, the number of employed people decreased by 122 000 and the number of unemployed people rose by a further 237 000 – the official unemployment rate in our province declined by 0.1%.
In every other province, unemployment went up.
In South Africa, the narrow unemployment rose by 1.1% to 25.2%, and the broad unemployment rate has grown to 35.1%. This means that over a third of working age South Africans are now jobless. In the Western Cape, narrow unemployment now stands at 20.9% and broad unemployment now stands at 22.6%. In our province, there is a very low rate of discouraged work-seekers, demonstrating that our residents remain hopeful of finding employment.
Year-on-year, the Western Cape created the most jobs in South Africa – 146 000. In contrast, Gauteng, which is the largest economy in South Africa, created only 62 000.
The stark contrast between the broad unemployment rate of South Africa and that of the Western Cape demonstrates that while ANC job creation policies are failing, the policies of the Western Cape Government have allowed us to continue to buck the trend by creating jobs.
We are focused on creating a province in which there are more jobs and more opportunities for all people.
That is why we have put policies in place which are in line with our vision of creating an open, opportunity society for all:
We are pleased by these latest statistics as they confirm that these, and the many other policies we have introduced over the last five years, are growing our economy and are creating opportunities for more and more people in our province.
This is just the start of the difference the DA is making for residents where it governs. In the next five years, as more of our policies become established, the impact is set to be far greater.
Bronwynne Jooste
Spokesperson for Minister Alan Winde
Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism
Western Cape Government
Tel: 021 483 3550
Cell: 082 454 4365
E-mail: bronwynne.jooste@westerncape.gov.za