South Africa’s labour market offered little relief in the second quarter of 2025, with more job seekers entering the fray but too few positions available to absorb them. This was according to Stats SA’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey.

According to Stats SA the labour force expanded by 159 000 in the second quarter to reach 25.17 million, a consequence of discouraged work seekers being drawn back into active job hunting. This lifted the labour force participation rate to 60.2%, yet the economy managed to create only 19 000 additional jobs, pushing total employment to 16.81 million.

The imbalance left 140 000 new entrants swelling the ranks of the unemployed, raising the total to 8.37 million and nudging the narrow unemployment rate upward from 32.9% in the first quarter to 33.2% in the second quarter. Meanwhile, the expanded unemployment rate (which includes discouraged work seekers) came in at 42.9%, declining from 43.1%. Such numbers reinforce the underlying dilemma: an economy growing below 1% is simply too sluggish to keep pace with a working-age population that increases by more than half a million annually.

Unless there is a decisive policy shift to galvanise investment and consistently raise trend growth above 3%, unemployment will remain anchored above 30%, a psychologically and socially significant threshold. The fact that the employment ratio slipped from 40.3% to 40.2% even as the labour force swelled signals a warning for policymakers: without faster growth and more flexible labour regulations, each uptick in participation will convert hope into disappointment rather than jobs.

As long as the policy environment remains hostile to investment and job creation, ordinary South Africans will pay the price in lost opportunity and rising frustration. A turnaround demands action to restore the connection between participation and prosperity.