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The tide of unemployment rate in the Free State province is turning for the worse, the unemployment rate has increased by 0.9% in the second quarter of the year during the April to June 2025 period.
During her State of the Province Address (SOPA), the Free State Premier Ms MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae acknowledged the high level of unemployment in the provinces, which was sitting at 37.9% at the time, she said the stats were very concerning; however; the provincial government is on a quest to create an inclusive economic and create jobs.
The province was amongst the provinces that had a high unemployment rate, or rather that lost a lot of jobs. Stats SA has on Tuesday, 12 August 2025, in its Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) reported that the province has created 12 000 jobs in the second quarter. News that show that the province on the correct trajectory.
Despite the gains, they were very minimal as the unemployment rate climbed to 38.5%, the province is amongst four provinces that recorded an increase in unemployment in the country.
According to Stats SA, the official unemployment rate decreased by 0,3 of a percentage point. The official unemployment rate decreased in five provinces. The decreases in the unemployment rate were recorded in Mpumalanga (3,4 percentage points), followed by Eastern Cape (1,5 percentage points), Gauteng (1,3 percentage points), North West (1,2 percentage points) and Western Cape (1,1 percentage points). The increases in the unemployment rate were recorded in Limpopo (3,6 percentage points), KwaZulu-Natal (2,3 percentage points), Free State (0,9 of a percentage point) and Northern Cape (0,7 of a percentage point).
The expanded unemployment rate decreased by 0,2 of a percentage point in Q2: 2025 compared with Q1: 2025. The expanded unemployment rate decreased in six provinces. The largest decreases were recorded in Eastern Cape (1,4 percentage points), followed by North West (1,3 percentage points), Free State (1,0 percentage point), Mpumalanga and Limpopo (0,9 percentage points each). The increases were recorded in Northern Cape (3,9 percentage points), Western Cape (2,3 percentage points) and KwaZulu-Natal (1,0 percentage point).
Compared with the same period last year, the expanded unemployment rate increased by 0,3 of a percentage point in Q2: 2025. Four out of the nine provinces recorded increases in the expanded unemployment rate while Gauteng remained unchanged. The largest increases in the expanded unemployment rate were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal (3,0 percentage points), followed by Northern Cape (2,0 percentage points). Decreases in the expanded unemployment rate were recorded in Eastern Cape (2,1 percentage points), Free State (1,3 percentage points), Western Cape and Mpumalanga (0,3 of a percentage point each).
