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The trend shows that the unemployment rate in the Western Cape increased by 1.5
percentage points from 19.4% to 20.9% between 2015Q4 and 2016Q1.

The Western Cape swapped positions with Limpopo to become the second lowest
province in terms of the unemployment rate. Limpopo recorded an unemployment
rate of 18.2% during 2016Q1.
Table 11 below shows how the province fared when compared to other provinces.

Table 11 Unemployment by Province
Official unemployment rate

2015Q1 2015Q4 2016Q1 Qtr-to-Qtr Yr-on-Yr
Change Change

Per Cent Percentage Points
South Africa 26.4 24.5 26.7 2.2 0.3
Western Cape 21.0 19.4 20.9 1.5 –0.1

Eastern Cape 29.6 27.4 28.6 1.2 –1.0
Northern Cape 34.1 25.8 27.8 2.0 –6.3

Free State 30.4 29.8 33.9 4.1 3.5
KwaZulu-Natal 23.6 20.5 23.2 2.7 –0.4
North West 28.4 23.9 28.1 4.2 –0.3

Gauteng 28.4 27.6 30.1 2.5 1.7
Mpumalanga 28.4 25.7 29.8 4.1 1.4

Limpopo 20.1 19.8 18.2 –1.6 –1.9

Source: StatsSA

Although the number of employed people in the province decreased by 1.1% on a
quarter-on-quarter basis, from 2 380 000 in 2015Q4 to 2 353 000 in 2016Q1 (which translates
into a 26 000 job decrease), the overall number of employed people increased on a
year-on-year basis by 4.1%, which is the second highest in the country.

Table 12 below shows employment by province.

Table 12 Employment by Province

Employment
2015Q1 2015Q4 2016Q1 Qtr- Yr-on-Yr Qtr- Yr-on-Yr
to-Qtr Change to-Qtr Change
Change Change
Thousands Per cent
South Africa 15 459 16 018 15 663 –355 204 –2.2 1.3
Western Cape 2 261 2 380 2 353 –26 92 –1.1 4.1

Eastern Cape 1 358 1 411 1 367 –44 9 –3.2 0.7
Northern Cape 307 312 313 1 5 0.4 1.7

90 QUARTERLY ECONOMIC BULLETIN 2016