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Cosatu concerned about unemployment rate


 The Congress of South African Trade Unions says it is appalled that South Africa's official unemployment rate is still rising.

Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday the number of unemployed people in the country increased to 4.7 million in the second quarter of this year.

Cosatu spokesperson, Patrick Craven says the figures confirm that government is nowhere close to it's target of creating five million new jobs between 2010 and 2020.

He says the trade union will campaign for the rapid implementation of macro-economic policies, which complement the existing industrial policies like the Industrial Policy Action Plan, the Infrastructure Development Programme and at least some of the New Growth Path.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank governor, Gill Marcus says the effects of South Africa's high unemployment rate will be felt for decades to come.

She says joblessness is the most pressing economic issue facing the world today.

Marcus told delegates at a labour law conference in Johannesburg that the problem of unemployment was not unique to South Africa, and that many other countries were seeking ways to address it.

She said the rate of job creation had been too slow and not sufficient to absorb the people seeking work.