The unemployment rate dropped to 24.7 percent in the third quarter of 2013, Statistics SA (Stats SA) said on Tuesday.
"The number of employed persons increased by 308,000 while the number of unemployed persons decreased by 114,000," according to Stats SA's Quarterly Labour Force Survey released in Pretoria.
"This resulted in an increase of 194,000 in the labour force."
The report presents the findings from July to September 2013. In the same period last year the unemployment rate was 25.5 percent.