At the same time, the number of job seekers grew by 9 000, thus resulting in a slight increase in the unemployment rate: it rose by 0,2 of a percentage point to 28,4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016 from the third quarter of 2016.
Unemployment in the Eastern Cape is thus above the national unemployment rate of 26,5 per cent, which in itself is unacceptably high. Youth unemployment is even higher, with the national figure at 35,6 per cent.