In the third quarter of 2023, South Africa’s employment landscape exhibited a notable upturn, as evidenced by the latest data from the Quarterly Employment Statistics report.
SA employment showed promise in third quarter of 2023
The total number of employed individuals saw an increase of 31,000, or 0.3%, from June 2023, reaching a total of 10,176,000 in September 2023.
This growth was primarily driven by gains in several key sectors, including community services, which added 42,000 jobs (14% increase), trade (4,000 jobs, 0.2% increase), transport (2,000 jobs, 0.5% increase), and mining (2,000 jobs, 0.4% increase).
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Despite these encouraging figures, not all sectors shared in the positive trend. The electricity industry reported no change, while business services, manufacturing, and construction experienced decreases.
Business services saw a reduction of 7,000 jobs (0.3% decrease), manufacturing also decreased by 7,000 jobs (0.6% decrease), and construction faced a more significant drop of 5,000 jobs (1.0% decrease).
In addition to full-time employment, part-time employment also showed positive growth in the same period. There was a 25% quarter-on-quarter increase in part-time employment, rising from 1,353,000 in June 2023 to 1,387,000 in September 2023.
This increase was predominantly seen in community services (26,000 jobs, 3.6% increase), business services (10,000 jobs, 4.1% increase), transport (2,000 jobs, 13.3% increase), and trade (2,000 jobs, 0.9% increase).
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On the flip side, decreases were noted in manufacturing (3,000 jobs, 3.9% decrease), construction (2,000 jobs, 2.9% decrease), and electricity (1,000 jobs, 50.0% decrease).
On a year-on-year basis, the overall employment figures were even more promising. Total employment surged by 256,000 jobs, or 2.6%, between September 2022 and September 2023.
Part-time employment followed a similar upward trajectory with an impressive year-on-year increase of 332,000 jobs, or 31.5%, underscoring a significant recovery and expansion in the job market.