ANC believes it can upend joblessness

The African National Congress (ANC) is focused on expanding employment opportunities, after new data showed that job creation efforts are beginning to bear fruit.

The party’s national executive committee (NEC) met in Germiston to strategise economic growth.

Earlier this week, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) announced the unemployment rate fell to 31.9% in the third quarter, down from 33.2% in the previous one.

Stats SA also revealed that more than 248,000 jobs were created during the period under review.

Speaking at a media briefing on Saturday, ANC NEC member Zuko Godlimpi said much has to be done.

One of the things the NEC is concerned about is the performance of our economy in terms of job creation. Yes, we have noted that the quarterly labour force survey demonstrates that there has been an uptick in job creation in the past quarter, but the numbers are still not at the level that is required for South Africa to get out of its current chronic unemployment crisis.

In the same vein, Stats SA used a different model to estimate how the results of joblessness changed how unemployment dropped.

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