Jobs outside of agri grow
Employment in South Africa’s non-agriculture sector rose 0.5 percent to 8.992 million people in the fourth quarter of last year.
|||Johannesburg - Employment in South Africa’s non-agriculture sector rose 0.5 percent to 8.992 million people in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the previous three months, Statistics SA said yesterday.
The number of people with jobs in the fourth quarter in 2015 was up by 0.1 percent when compared with the same period in 2014.
Quarterly Employment Statistics show employment increased by 43 000 quarter on quarter, bringing the total headcount employment level to 8.992 million individuals.
The government was once again the employer of choice, with community services increasing jobs by 0.5 percent or 13 000.
The trade sector increased employment by 2.3 percent or 42 000 jobs, and business services by 0.8 percent or 16 000 jobs.
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But mining, manufacturing, construction and transport industries all shed jobs.
Kamilla Kaplan, an economist at Investec, said this corroborated with the contraction in industrial sector activity and depressed business confidence, which had diminished labour market prospects in the sector.
“Recent trading updates from major producers indicate further cost rationalisation plans, with reductions in headcounts likely.”
Bart Stemmet, an analyst at NKC African Economics, said the data confirmed the employment picture was evolving with the narrative seen in other economic publications.
Stemmet said the secondary sector had come under severe strain amid falling commodity prices, leading to reduced expenditure.
“The mining and quarrying sector has shed 49 000 jobs since the second quarter of 2013, and with more and more shafts being mothballed and mining operations optimised, we expect this trend to continue. Structural unemployment remains a salient feature of the South African economy, and with real gross domestic product stuck at low gear, we foresee the situation getting worse.”
The unemployment rate fell by a percentage point in the fourth quarter of 2015 to 24.5 percent.
The government has no scope to expand its public service workforce, given constraints to the fiscus.
In the February Budget, the Treasury said the expenditure ceiling – which limits allocations to departments – had been reduced by R10 billion in 2017/18 and R15bn in 2018/19. These reductions have been distributed to salary budgets across the national and provincial government.
It said the changes were designed to minimise the impact of frontline service delivery personnel: the bulk of reductions will apply to managerial and administrative staff.
In addition, R7.2bn has been shifted out of the salary budgets of national departments over the medium term as part of the reprioritisation exercise.
James Lorimer, the DA spokesman on mineral resources, said that 29 000 jobs had been lost in the mining industry between December 2014 and December 2015, amounting to a decrease of 5.9 percent in employment in the industry. He added that the ANC would blame global economic conditions.
Lorimer said although these factors played a role, the truth of the matter was that the government had failed to provide much-needed leadership to mitigate the dire situation in which the sector found itself.
“The sector is under siege from every quarter.”
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