South Africa's unemployment rate fell slightly to 32.6% in the second quarter (Q2) of this year from 32.9% in Q1. The best that can be said is that at least the trend is going the right way, but there are worrying signs, such as a significant decline in manufacturing jobs.

At 32.6%, South Africa's unemployment rate remains sky-high and is a global chart-topper on this dismal front, according to most online searches. That's probably because no one bothers to take note of Zimbabwe any more.

Still, the trend is at least going in the right direction: this was the seventh consecutive increase in employment since Q4 2021. But the pace remains painfully slow when one considers what a potentially explosive ticking time bomb such rates of joblessness represent in a country that also tops the global charts for inequality.

"The marginal decrease in the Q2 unemployment rate means precious little, considering the millions of people who remain despondent and jobless. The economy's weak growth outlook bodes ill for future employment creation, and we forecast South Africa's unemployment rate will hover at current high levels over the medium term," Jee-A van der Linde, senior economist at Oxford Economics Africa, said in a note on the data.

Worryingly, the data show a significant decline in manufacturing employment in the three months from April to June, even though the sector posted output growth of 2.3% over that timeframe.

Manufacturing employment fell by 5.8% in Q2 compared to Q1, despite the rise in production...