Raymond Parsons warns SA’s latest unemployment figures signal deeper economic risks [SOUND]

# North West University Business School economist professor Raymond Parsons says South Africa’s latest unemployment figures are a warning signal of the emerging shock that the global energy crisis is beginning to have. The official unemployment rate in the country increased by 1.3-percent to 32.7-percent in the first quarter of 2026. Parsons says The longer the Middle East conflict persists, the greater the downside risks to growth and employment for the rest of the year: