Authorities in South Africa’s say 2.2 million jobs were lost in the second quarter of 2020 during the coronavirus lockdown
The lockdown was introduced from 27 March to prevent the spread of the virus and the economy subsequently shrank at an unprecedented level leading to what has been described as It is the biggest fall in job numbers since the employment survey began in 2008.
The national statistics office’s figure for the number of people who have not been economically inactive indicated an even more dramatic economic decline. Between March and June that figure increased by 5.3 million people to 20.5 million.
The official unemployment rate actually dropped in that quarter from 23.3% from 30.1% in the first quarter of 2020. a reflection of how the lockdown prevented people from looking for work.
