ANC hails ‘measurable improvement’ in unemployment to 31.4%

The ANC has hailed the 0.5 percentage point drop in unemployment which now brings the official unemployment rate to 31.4% in the three months to December 2025.

The party on Wednesday described the decrease as “measurable improvement” and said it signalled that sustained policy interventions were beginning to yield results in the labour market.

The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey was released by Statistics SA on Tuesday. The survey revealed that there are 17.1-million employed people and 7.8-million unemployed people in the country.

The ANC attributed the drop to what it called deliberate economic stabilisation measures, expanded infrastructure investment and targeted employment programmes aimed at stimulating inclusive growth.

It said government efforts to improve energy reliability, unlock investment commitments and accelerate public infrastructure spending had created a more enabling environment for job creation.

Targeted employment support initiatives, the party said, provided work opportunities particularly for young people and women while supporting small businesses and local economic activity.

Despite the improvement, the ANC acknowledged that overall unemployment remains “unacceptably high”, with youth unemployment requiring urgent attention.

The party argued that co-ordinated economic reform, fiscal discipline and growth-focused industrial policy were beginning to reverse negative trends. It also cited stabilising inflation, improved investor confidence and renewed momentum in key sectors as contributing factors.

The ANC said reducing unemployment remains a structural national priority and pledged to deepen industrialisation, expand skills development, promote localisation and strengthen support for labour-absorbing sectors of the economy.

“South Africa’s recovery is under way,” the party said.

TimesLIVE