In the last quarter of 2025, the unemployment rate among Black South Africans was over 35 percent, indicating a year-on-year change of 1.4 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. On the other hand, the unemployment rate among white South Africans was eight percent in the last quarter of 2025, marking the lowest value among the different population groups.
Unemployment prevalent among youth and women
The unemployment rate is the share of the labor force population that is unemployed, while the labor force includes individuals who are employed as well as those who are unemployed but looking for work. South Africa is struggling to absorb its youth into the job market. For instance, the unemployment rate among young South Africans aged 15-24 years reached a staggering 60.7 percent in the second quarter of 2023. Furthermore, women had higher unemployment rates than men. Since the start of 2016, the unemployment rate of women has been consistently more than that of men, reaching close to 36 percent compared to 30 percent, respectively.
A new minimum wage and most paying jobs
     In South Africa, a new minimum hourly wage went into effect on March 1, 2022. The minimum salary reached 23.19 South African rand per hour (1.44 U.S. dollars per hour), up from 21.69 South African rand per hour (1.35 U.S. dollars per hour) in 2021. In addition, the preponderance of employed South Africans worked between 40 and 45 hours weekly in 2021. Individuals holding Executive Management and Change Management jobs were the highest paid in the country, with salaries averaging 74,000 U.S. dollars per year.