Stats SA to release formal sector employment numbers on Thursday

Statistics South Africa will release the formal sector employment numbers on Thursday. Analysts are expecting a pick up in non-agricultural employment in the third quarter following a better-than-expected third-quarter GDP figure.

Employment numbers fell sharply in the second quarter. Analysts say power supply constraints will harm the labour market.

Rolling blackouts have intensified since September to date. Power utility Eskom has implemented power rationing due to the failure of its ageing generation capacity. This has significantly impacted the overall economy. And this may be seen in the job numbers coming out on Thursday.

“We anticipate that load shedding that has been ongoing is going to have an impact in the numbers that are coming out tomorrow from Stats SA and that is without a doubt among the key industries that are so far been driving job creation,” says Policy and Economic analyst Mamokgethi Molopyane.

Formal sector employment figures to be released on Thursday:

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Despite a slew of challenges that have hit the local economy, growth in the third quarter surprised on the upside, coming in at 1.6 %.  But the improvement is unlikely to make a major improvement on the country’s job creation efforts.

“While manufacturing has performed relatively well in its productivity and its data, it’s not necessarily a sector that is going to be producing and creating new jobs in vast numbers but also it’s a sector that’s going to be having key specific targeted jobs that it creates,” Molopyane adds.

Economists say they expect to see more recovery in the manufacturing sector which showed improvement in the second quarter despite the devastating power cuts.