Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences: Home

Article Title:
Determinants of Unemployment in Limpopo Province in South Africa: Exploratory Studies
by Kwabena A. Kyei, and Kwame B. Gyekye

Abstract:
Employment is one of the most significant determinants of the welfare of any nation. Any significant changes in employment will subsequently affect the living standard of the household. South Africa suffers from high unemployment rates, with the official unemployment rate rising from 15.6 percent in 1995 to a peak of 30.3 percent (2001) and currently about 29 percent. Limpopo tends to have the highest proportion of rural dwellers in the South Africa, hence it is expected that conditions in the province are inferior to the national average; implying higher unemployment rate. After the demise of apartheid (post-1994), the supply of labor increased dramatically, but as the economy grew, there was a drastic shift towards a more skilled based economy creating massive lay-off. This study attempts to find the determinants of unemployment in Limpopo province using annual census data from Global Insight. Regression, Principal Component and Cluster analyses have been employed in this study. Five variables, race, age, education, gender and GDP were categorized into fifteen as independent variables. The results show that unemployment is concentrated at qualifications below the degree. That GDP, male, matriculation and youth have no significant relationship with unemployment. Rather the model reveals that females, postgraduate studies, middle aged, primary, incomplete secondary schooling and race are predictors of unemployment in Limpopo province in South Africa.

Keywords: unemployment, significant determinant, predicted, illiteracy, Limpopo province, model

Download full paper