The Economist notes that Brazil’s economy grew by a better-than-expected 0.6% in the three months to the end of September, but that unemployment remains high … at 11.6%.
The brief report on Brazil says the South American country is still recovering from a severe recession in 2015-16, its worst since the 1930s, and that economists expect growth for the year to be stuck at around 1%.
Immediately below that piece The Economist records that, in contrast, South Africa’s economy contracted in the third quarter, with GDP falling by an annualised rate of 0.6% in the three months to the end of September. Economists had expected growth of 0.1%. It highlights delays in the reorganisation of near-bankrupt state-owned companies and infighting within the government as factors that have sapped business confidence in Africa’s second-biggest economy.
The Economist doesn’t mention South Africa’s unemployment rate of 29%, or, by the expanded definition, 38.5%.
If the business magazine regards Brazil’s unemployment rate as ‘high’ at 11.6%, IRR analysts wonder, how would it describe South Africa’s?