Stanlib’s Kevin Lings on South Africa’s unemployment disaster 

Stanlib’s chief economist Kevin Lings unpacks the latest unemployment data, which reveals a decimated South African economy. In the third quarter of 2021, 660,000 jobs were lost in the formal sector. This takes the total to 2.1 million jobs lost since the start of the pandemic. The unemployment rate rose to 34.9% from 34.4% in the second quarter. The broader definition – arguably a more accurate indicator as it includes discouraged workers – came in at a staggering 46.6%. Lings outlines the importance of the growth of small- to medium-sized businesses, which are the backbone of an economy. He lambasts policy for making business difficult in an environment where we should be promoting policies that uplift the economy. Lings says there aren’t too many positives to take out of the data; it paints a bleak macroeconomic picture in South Africa.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices