SA employment decreases by 119 000 jobs in Q2

South Africa’s formal, non-agricultural industries shed 119 000 jobs in the second quarter (Q2), down from 10 067 000 in March 2022 to 9 948 000 in June 2022, led largely by employment losses in the community services, business services and construction industries.

Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) Report shows that employment in the community services industry dropped by 100 000 jobs, followed by businesses services which saw a decrease of 15 000 and construction which reported an employment drop of 13 000. Manufacturing had 12 000 less jobs, while the electricity industry lost 1 000 jobs in Q2.

Year on year, employment in the country only grew by 0.7%, a gain of 74 000 jobs between June 2021 and June 2022.

This is a slightly different picture to the one painted by the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the period between April and June which reported an improvement in unemployment to 33.9% in Q2 of 2022, from 34.5% in Q1, a gain of 648 000 more jobs.

Unlike the latest QLFS – which is a survey of households that collects data on the labour activities of individuals – the QES is an enterprise-based survey which collects data from non-agricultural businesses and organisations in the formal economy.

Read: SA unemployment drops to 33.9% in Q2 2022

Full time vs part time

There were 16 000 less jobs in Q2 between the period of March 2022 and June 2022, decreasing total employment in this category to 8 826 000 in June 2022.

Full-time employment losses were led by the business services industry which shed 19 000 jobs, construction which shed 13 000, community services which shed 8 000 and the electricity industry which saw 1 000 less jobs this quarter.

However, the trade (19 000), mining (4 000) and manufacturing (1 000) industries reported gains in this category as did the transport industry which gained 1 000 jobs.

“Full-time employment decreased by 80 000 or -0.9% year on year between June 2021 and June 2022.”

Part-time employment saw an even worse blow, seeing 103 000 fewer jobs in Q2, from 1 225 000 in March 2022 to 1 122 000 in June 2022. Largely led again, by in community services (down 92 000) and manufacturing (down 13 000) industries as well as the trade industry which lost 2 000 jobs.

“Part-time employment increased by 154 000 or 15.9% year-on-year between June 2021 and June 2022.”

Earnings gains

Despite the drops in employment, Stats SA data shows a slight rise in gross earnings paid to employees this period of R0.5 billion, up from R786.8 billion reported in March 2022. Gains were mainly due to increases in the transport, community services, trade, construction and mining industries.

A yearly comparison in earnings shows a 4.5% growth to R33.6 billion between June 2021 and June 2022.

Further, the basic salary/wages paid to employees was 1.5% stronger in Q2 than in the previous quarter, increasing by R10.3 billion, supported by gains in the business services, trade, construction, manufacturing, transport, mining and community services industries. Yearly comparison shows a 3.8% growth here, increasing by R26.2 billion.

“Average monthly earnings showed a quarter-on-quarter increase of 3.7%, from R23 697 in February 2022 to R24 578 in May 2022. Year-on-year, average monthly earnings increased by 4.0%.”

Despite these earnings gains, bonuses paid to employees dropped by 20%, from R59.2 billion in March 2022 to R47.4 billion in June 2022, led by decreases in the business services, manufacturing, trade, construction and electricity industries.

Read: No jobs, no food