Free SA warns marginal job gains hide deepening South African labour crisis
Youth unemployment and discouraged workers rising: Free SA says it’s time to fix the system, not just the stats.
Image: Freepik
Free SA has responded to Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the fourth quarter of 2025, warning that the latest employment figures offer little relief to a labour market that remains structurally fragile and deeply concerning.
According to the QLFS, employment increased by 44 000 in the fourth quarter, bringing total employment to 17.1 million, while the official unemployment rate declined slightly from 31.9% to 31.4%.
“The fourth quarter has historically shown seasonal employment gains,” Free SA noted. “A 44 000 increase in employment in an economy of over 42 million working-age individuals is statistically marginal and economically insignificant. Year-on-year, total employment increased by only 21 000 jobs, a mere 0.1% growth – which does not even nearly match population growth and therefore represents a step backwards in real terms.”
The organisation highlighted that the apparent decline in unemployment is partly due to a shrinking labour force, with 128 000 individuals exiting the market in the quarter. Discouraged job-seekers also rose sharply by 233 000.
“Government may be tempted to highlight a miniscule decline in unemployment as progress. But South Africans live in the real economy, not in quarterly statistical adjustments. When nearly half the labour force remains underutilised and discouraged job-seekers are rising sharply, it is clear that policy reform has stalled,” said Gideon Joubert, spokesperson for Free SA.
The broader measure of labour underutilisation (LU4) remains at 44.5%, while the youth NEET rate (Not in Employment, Education or Training) sits at 34% for 15 - 24-year-olds. Provincially, the Eastern Cape recorded 42.5% unemployment and KwaZulu-Natal 32.3%. Nationally, the employment-to-population ratio is just 40.6%.
Free SA emphasised that South Africa’s labour crisis is structural, citing regulatory overreach, rigid labour laws, policy uncertainty, failing infrastructure and an overextended public sector as barriers to private sector growth.
“Until the government prioritises private sector expansion over bureaucratic control, unemployment will remain South Africa’s defining economic tragedy,” the organisation said. “South Africans deserve real reform, not seasonal relief.”