Levels, trends and consistency of employment and unemployment figures in South Africa

This article appraises the similarities and dissimilarities between the major sources of information on the South African labour force, ie the CSS Employment Series, the Standardised Employment Series and recent household surveys. It concludes that the generally bleak picture of very high unemployment rates presented in the household surveys is broadly accurate. Further, race, gender and location are major determinants of labour‐force participation and employment. Finally, the article highlights the lack of work experience among the unemployed.

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Respectively Professor, Department of Economics, University of Munich; and Lecturer, Department of Economics and Economic History, University of Port Elizabeth. The authors would like to thank Charles Simkins, Ros Hirschowitz, Debbie Budlender, Estelle de Jager, Annette Myburgh, Bala Rajaratnam, Richard Ketley and the participants of a workshop held at the University of Pretoria for helpful discussion, comments and suggestions. They would also like to thank the two anonymous referees. Funding from the British Department for International Development in support of this work is gratefully acknowledged.