According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa yesterday, 23 000 more jobs were created in the Eastern Cape in quarter 2 of 2023.
Premier Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane has welcomed the increase, emphasizing however that it is still marginal at 1.6% as well as when it is compared to the national average. This builds on the decrease in the unemployment rate which was recorded as the largest at 2,1% during the first quarter of 2023.
While this is good news, we remain concerned that unemployment is still very high in our province. We will continue to advocate for National Government to resolve some of the complex challenges impacting our economic growth including the challenge of energy provision. – the Premier said.
“The province has been on a steady trajectory in relation to employment creation, we however acknowledge that more still needs to be done to put up a strong fight against unemployment and poverty,” said Premier Mabuyane.
The Premier has called on government institutions to fast-track the implementation of approved catalytic infrastructure projects and strategic agricultural projects which have a huge potential to create more jobs in the province.
The QLFS report also revealed that the province recorded the largest decrease in the expanded unemployment rate which went down by 8,5 percentage points compared to the same period last year.
The Premier further noted an urgent need to improve the performance of the provincial economy,
in order to take forward the strides already being made to deal with unemployment, poverty and underdevelopment, he said.
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