The official unemployment rate was 32.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey.
The above changes in employment and unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate increasing by 0.2% from 31.9% in the third quarter of 2023 to 32.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The results for the QLFS also revealed that the number of employed persons decreased by 22,000 to 16.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 in comparison to the third quarter of 2023. The number of unemployed persons increased by 46,000 to 7.9 million during the fourth quarter.
The number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement, increased by 218,000 to 13.4 million, while discouraged work-seekers decreased by 107,000 in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2023.
This has resulted in a net increase of 111,000 in the not economically active population.
There was a loss of jobs in the formal sector and the agricultural sector when jobs were down by 128,000 and 35,000, respectively. Employment in the informal sector and private households employment increased by 124,000 and 18,000 for Q4 2023.
The QLFS results showed that a majority of employees had permanent employment contracts. Between the third and the fourth quarters of 2023, the number of employees with contracts of limited duration (116,000), unspecified duration (60,000) and permanent nature (47,000) dropped.
On a year-on-year basis, figures indicated that the number of employees increased for all contract types. The biggest increase was among those with contracts of unspecified duration (284,000), followed by those with contracts with limited duration (239,000) and permanent nature (204,000).
IOL Business