EDITORIAL: Higher jobs rate gives solace, but hopes remain dashed
Stats SA’s numbers show 15.6-million were employed in the second quarter, still more than 850,000 below the prepandemic level
When labour force numbers for the fourth quarter of 2021 came out showing an unemployment rate of more than 35%, the small print at the back of the release showed that the numbers were based on a survey with a response rate of less than 45% nationwide — and as low as 23% for Gauteng. The experts were sceptical that a survey that flawed could possibly yield accurate results.
The background was that Stats SA had to suspend face-to-face surveying at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and instead relied on telephone interviews, which tend to have much more patchy response rates. Since the start of this year the statistics agency has resumed face-to-face surveying and the survey is clearly getting back to normal. Second quarter numbers released on Tuesday show the response rate jumped to 78.7%, with Gauteng’s responses staging a turnaround to just more than 60%. At these levels economists, statisticians and the rest of us can be much more comfortable that the survey is giving us...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
This article is free to read if you sign up or sign in.
If you have already registered or subscribed, please sign in to continue.
Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.