Economists expect the unemployment rate to rise to a record level of 32%, with more people entering the labour market and actively looking for jobs.
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) is due to release the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the fourth quarter of 2020 on Tuesday.
South Africa shed 2.2 million jobs in the second quarter when a hard lockdown was implemented to slow the spread of Covid-19 infections. Restrictions saw economic activity grind to a halt. By the third quarter, while there were still some job gains with the easing of restrictions, the country's jobless climbed to 6.5 million people and the official unemployment rate rose to a record 30.8%.