Final_QLFS_Employment_Status_by_Quarter_2019_to ...

This data file contains the employment status of South Africans, from Q1-2019 to Q1-2023.

Employed persons are those aged 15–64 years who, during the reference week, did any work for at least one hour, or had a job or business but were not at work (i.e. were temporarily absent).

Unemployed persons according to the Official definition are those (aged 15–64 years) who: 1. Were not employed in the reference week; and 2. Actively looked for work or tried to start a business in the four weeks preceding the survey interview; and 3. Were available for work, i.e. would have been able to start work or a business in the reference week; or 5. Had not actively looked for work in the past four weeks, but had a job or business to start at a definite date in the future and were available.

Discouraged job seekers are persons who were not employed during the reference period, wanted to work, were available to work/start a business but did not take active steps to find work during the last four weeks, provided that the main reason given for not seeking work was any of the following: no jobs available in the area; unable to find work requiring their skills; lost hope of finding any kind of work.

Not economically active refers to persons aged 15–64 years who were neither employed nor unemployed during the reference week.

NOTE: This data is available for provinces and metros only. Due to the coefficient of variation (CV) exceeding 30% for most metros in Q4 -2021, Statistics South Africa made the decision not to publish them.