Series of Registered Unemployment.
Unemployment:
Unemployment:
Department of Manpower.
The data from this series cover the four provinces of Cape, Natal, Transvaal and Orange Free State but exclude Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, Ciskei, Kwazulu, KaNgwane, Qwa Qwa, Gazankulu, Lebowa and KwaNdebele. Since 1983 the series has covered all population groups who are seeking paid employment within the covered territory. There are 307 registration offices which are either Department of Manpower offices or magistrates' offices acting as its agents. The minimum age limit applied is above 15 years of age (and not compelled to attend school). There is no maximum age limit.
The monthly data available to ILO publications cover only Whites, Asians and Coloureds. Blacks are not included.
The series is monthly and started in January 1948.
Unemployment: Registered unemployment refers to persons of working age who are out of work at a specific time, who are available for work, and are looking for work for remuneration or profit and who are registered as "work seekers" with the Department of Manpower or its agents for that purpose. Persons seeking temporary or part-time work; first jobseekers and re-entrants; to the workforce disabled persons and those receiving invalidity benefits or other pensioners are included as well as persons responsible for the loss of their last job.
Persons on temporary or indefinite lay-off without pay or on strike are excluded from the unemployment data. Persons employed who seek other work may register with the Department of Manpower but are not regarded as unemployed and are not included in the unemployment statistics.
Registration: This means the voluntary reporting at any office of the Department of Manpower or its agents with the purpose of being placed in employment. Eligibility rules for registration are not specified. To maintain registration, monthly personal attendance is required. Contributors to the unemployment insurance fund are required to register in order for payment of benefits to be made.
Deletion from the register: The major criteria for inclusion in the register are "available for work" and "actively looking for work", therefore only temporary inability to work due to illness or accident does not lead to deletion. Participation in "special work creation schemes" or "training schemes for the unemployed" as well as refusal to participate in schemes do not lead to a person's deletion from the register. However if persons are not actively seeking, nor available for work due to leave, holidays etc., or if they refuse to fulfil the register maintenance requirements, they are deleted and automatically excluded from the unemployment statistics.
The 25th day of each month. The final compilation date is the 15th of the following month.
Reports on the register are submitted by the different placement centres of the Department of Manpower and its agents to the head office of the Department on a monthly basis. The supervisors who receive these register reports control them and query any discrepancies on an on-going basis. Inspections are carried out once or twice a year. No statistical evaluations are made.
The registered unemployment rate is calculated as a percentage of the economically active population (employed and unemployed) which is determined biennially from the Manpower Survey. Up to 1985 the Manpower Survey was a household survey covering all population groups, including Blacks, in the covered territory. As from 1987, the Manpower Survey is undertaken by the Central Statistical Service, on the same basis.
Up to 1982 this series covered Whites, Coloureds and Asians only. Since 1983 coverage was extended to include Blacks. On this basis, the annual data for 1983 and 1984 represented 64.9 and 65.5 thousand people approximately.
Department of Manpower: "Bulletin of Unemployment Statistics" (monthly) (Pretoria, 1988). Each issue contains data for the same and the previous month.
Central Statistical Service: "Short-Term Economic Indicators" (monthly) (ibid., 1988).
idem: "South African Labour Statistics, 1986" (annual) (ibid., 1986). This is the first edition of this publication.
No methodological publications have been issued.