September 28 2017 – THERE has a loss of 34 000 jobs in SA’s formal non agricultural sector, which could be a blow to millions of Zimbabweans, who facing a economic meltdown at home, migrate to Mzansi for employment.
According to a StatsSA Quarterly Employment Survey released today, these jobs were lost in the second quarter of 2017 in SA’s formal non-agricultural sector.
“That decrease is in manufacturing, construction, community services, transport … only mining and quarrying showed some increases in terms of employment. That is what we are seeing there,” says outgoing Statistician General Pali Lehohla in a media briefing in Pretoria.
However compared to same quarter in 2016, employment has increased year-on-year by 13 000 [0.1 percent].
“Whenever you look at these things, you have to look at the quarter, and the year-on-year to understand how significant the changes are,” says Lehohla.
The Quarterly Employment Statistics is an enterprise-based sample survey conducted by Statistics South Africa. The samples are drawn from private non-agricultural businesses such as factories, firms, office, and stores, as well as from national and local entities.
StatsSA said a quarterly decrease of 40 000 in the employment figures occurred mainly in finance, community services, manufacturing and transport. – ANA/additional reporting ZimsInSA.com reporter
