South Africa's unemplyment rate increased by 0.6 percentage points from 32.9% in Q1 2024 to 33.5% in Q2 2024, the government's statistics office reported Tuesday.

Africa's most industrialized economy has struggled to create jobs in recent years due to a long recession and most recently the Covid-19 pandemic.

About 8.4 million people were out of work, up from 5.2 million in 2014.

The number of employed persons fell by 92,000 to 16.7 million in Q2 2024. The sectors which saw the most job decreases include trade, agriculture and construction.

Only manufacturing, social services and utilities added jobs.

The figures are the first to be released since the May elections which brought in a coalition government which put reviving the ailing economy top of its agenda.

Unemployment was a key political issue in the vote, likely contributing to the loss of an absolute majority by the African National Congress (ANC).

The statistics affice said that the most significant decrease in employment was observed in the Western Cape, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.