South Africa lost 2.2 million jobs in the second quarter due to the lockdown.
It has sent unemployment, as per the extended definition, to over 40%.
The staggering decline in the unemployment rate is the first real indication of how the labour force has been affected by the pandemic.
The 2.2 million lost jobs mean there are only 14.1 million employed people in the country, the lowest since 2011.
But despite the jobs bloodbath, the official jobless rate fell from 30.1% to 23.3%.
Unemployed persons declined substantially by 2.8 million to 4.3 million compared to the first quarter of 2020.
According to Stats SA, the number of discouraged work-seekers decreased by 447 000, and the number of people who weren’t economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 5.6 million quarter on quarter, resulting in a net increase of 5.2 million in the not economically active population.
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