The Western Cape’s unemployment rate has dipped to 19.5% in the second quarter of 2026, down from 19.6% the previous quarter, keeping the province below the 20% mark for over a year. The province remains well below the national rate and points to steady economic performance despite tough global and national conditions.
However, decreases in employment were recorded in Western Cape (48 000), Gauteng (22 000) and North West (15 000), while Mpumalanga (41 000), Eastern Cape (13 000) and Free State (9 000) were provinces that observed the highest increases in employment.
It is important to note that a decrease in employment means fewer people have active jobs, while a decrease in unemployment means fewer people who want work are without a job. These two metrics track different groups in the Statistics South Africa labour force data and can move independently due to shifts in population and job seeking.
Seven out of ten sectors in the province recorded year-on-year gains in employment, driven by the finance (+41 000), trade (+41 000) and agriculture (+26 000) sectors. The provincial labour absorption rate, the share of the working-age population that is employed, also grew by 1.1 percentage points year-on-year reaching 55.7% compared to 39.6% nationally.
We know we must and can do more to grow our economy. We will push even harder to bring more investment to our province that creates many more jobs.
The latest QLFS figures also confirm that over the past 10 years, the province’s unemployment rate has consistently remained below the national average.
“Every decrease in the unemployment rate is encouraging. It shows that we continue to foster a resilient job creation ecosystem that works for our residents,” Winde stated.
“Despite intense headwinds, we are still making progress. The Western Cape and its residents have faced an incredibly difficult three months, marked by several weather events that wreaked havoc on infrastructure and the agricultural sector, in particular, which is a major economic driver in the province.
“We know we must and can do more to grow our economy. We will push even harder to bring more investment to our province that creates many more jobs.”
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Western Cape minister of agriculture, economic development and tourism, Dr Ivan Meyer, welcomed the latest figures. “While South Africa lost 68 000 jobs year-on-year, the Western Cape created 91 000 jobs over this period. This achievement reflects the resilience of our economy, the determination of our businesses, and the impact of creating an enabling environment for investment, growth and job creation,” said Meyer.
Meyer said the results demonstrate the importance of maintaining a growth-focused economic agenda. “Growth creates jobs. Our focus remains on attracting investment, supporting businesses, expanding export opportunities, improving the skills pipeline, and building the infrastructure required for sustained economic growth.”
National outlook
Countrywide, the official unemployment rate was 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026.
According to the latest results, there was an increase of 345 000 in the number of unemployed persons to 8.5 million, while there was a decrease of 16 000 in the number of employed persons to 16.7 million compared with the first quarter. This resulted in an increase of 329 000 (or 1.3%) in the labour force during the same period.
These changes in employment and unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate (Labour Underutilisation (LU1)) increasing by 0.9 of a percentage point from 32.7% in the first quarter of 2026 to 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026.
Discouraged job-seekers decreased by 227 000 to 3.7 million, other available job-seekers decreased by 49 000 to 861 000, and unavailable job-seekers decreased by 4 000 to 44 000, resulting in a net decrease of 280 000 to 4.6 million in the potential labour force – persons who were available but not seeking or unavailable but seeking.
Youth unemployment increases
Those outside the labour force for other reasons increased by 72 000 to 125 million. Persons outside the labour force, which is the total of those in potential labour force and others outside the labour force, decreased by 208 000 to 17.1 million in the second quarter of 2026.
The number of persons employed in the formal sector and household sector decreased by 41 000 and 9 000 respectively in 2026, and in the informal sector increased by 34 000 over the same period.
The increases in industry employment were mainly recorded in trade (70 000), construction (39 000) and finance (11 000). The largest decreases in employment were recorded in community and social service (57 000), mining (26 000), agriculture and manufacturing (15 000 each).
The results for the second quarter of 2026 show that the total number of unemployed youth (15-34 years) increased by 264 000 to 5.0 million compared with quarter one of 2026, while employed youth recorded a decrease of 40 000 to 5.6 million. As a result, the youth unemployment rate increased by 1,5 percentage points to 47,4% in the second quarter of 2026.
