Unemployment creeps up to 20.7% as economy fails to meet job demand

The new rate is contained in a Quarterly Multi Modular Survey (QMTS) focussing on labour released this morning. The survey is the first of its kind and compares various labour indicators from the third quarter of 2019 with the last full labour survey, the 2015/16 Botswana Multi Topic Household Survey. 

According to the QMTS, the number of economically active people (15 years and above), which means those employed and those looking for employment, was measured at 940,546 in the third quarter of 2019. This is compared to 836,734 in 2015/16, giving a difference between the two of 103,812 or a 12.4% increase in the economically active population.