South Africa’s job crisis is worsening, and one province is feeling it harder than the rest.
The North West stands out as the only province where more people are unemployed than working – a situation some say should be declared a provincial disaster.
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for Q2 2025 from Stats SA, unemployment nationally rose to 33.2 percent, up from 32.9 percent in Q1 and 31.9 percent at the end of 2024. The data paints a mixed picture across provinces, but the North West is by far the outlier in South Africa.
Unemployment rates in South Africa tell a story
Between April and June 2025 159 000 people entered the labour force, yet only 19 000 secured jobs, while 140 000 joined the ranks of the unemployed.
The number of discouraged work-seekers, people who have given up looking, dropped slightly by 28 000. The expanded unemployment rate, which includes discouraged job seekers, eased a fraction from 43.1 percent to 42.9 percent.
And the North West province is in the direst position. The stats indicated that the official unemployment rate was 40.1 percent, while the expanded unemployment rate was 54.7 percent
This means the majority of adults in the province are either unemployed or no longer searching for work. Around 14.6 percent of the unemployed have given up entirely.
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