An approach to South African unemployment based on the perspectives of search theory suggests that labour market flows are very important. We present some evidence on what these flows might look like, based on three cross-sectional surveys. We use changes between age cohorts as proxies for the intertemporal changes involved. Our analysis suggests that there are two types of unemployment: a large spike of youth unemployment and a much longer term labour absorption problem. We also suggest that the education system does not provide effective signals to employers and that search and screening costs of employers may explain some of the dynamics of South African unemployment.
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