A total of 262,000 new jobs were created in Cape Town over the past year, and 56,000 in the last quarter alone, according to the latest StatsSA quarterly labour force survey for April – June 2023 that was released on Tuesday.
The stats revealed that the metro’s unemployment rate fell by 7% year-on-year and went down by a further 1.7% since the last quarter.
The City has maintained positive job growth for six consecutive quarters, with the lowest unemployment rate of all the metros.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said: "This is such encouraging progress, and we take great heart from the fact that a quarter of a million more Capetonians have work today than just a year ago. This is evidence of how the Cape Town economy is booming and is now the heart of national economic growth."
According to the City, this will attract new investments, and new investments will create jobs.
The mayor has also stated that he is proud of being able to place people in jobs, given the growing number of Capetonians who are eager to work.
"To enable further job-creating economic growth, we are forging ahead with plans to end load shedding over time, alongside a record R43 billion infrastructure investment over three years,“ said Hill-Lewis.
Furthermore, the city of Cape Town has indicated that their labour absorption rate has exceeded their pre-Covid rate, indicating that the city's labour market has well and truly recovered.
Alderman James Vos, the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, said: "The City’s investment promotion and skills development programme has spurred major gains across multiple industries. Our projects have facilitated billions of rands in investments and led to the creation of thousands of jobs."
Under the City’s Building Hope Budget, R41 million has been allocated for direct economic incentives to attract more investments and job opportunities to Cape Town.
"We have also built a strong training support system for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and employees so that they can gain the skills needed in emerging and high growth industries such as the green economy, call centres, tourism, and clothing and textiles," said Vos.
The latest stats also revealed that South Africa’s official unemployment rate has decreased to 32.6%, with 154,000 more people finding work in the second quarter of this year.
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