• In the fourth quarter of 2020 the number of employed people increased by 333 000 from the previous quarter, to 15.0 million.
  • The official unemployment rate, which stood at 30.8% in Q3 2020, increased by 1.7 percentage points to 32.5% in Q4 2020, which is the highest unemployment rate recorded since the start of the QLFS in 2008.
  • The unemployment rate based on the expanded definition, which includes those out of work who were no longer actively looking for work, decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 42.6% in Q4 2020.
  • All industries in the formal sector, except for Finance and Mining, recorded employment gains.
  • In the informal sector employment increased by 65 000 people compared to Q3 2020.
  • Out of the 15.0 million persons who were employed in Q4 2020, almost three-quarters (78.3%) were expected to work during the national lockdown by the companies/organisations they work for.

View the full report here.