Trade, business services, mining hit hard as SA sheds 67,000 jobs in just three months

SA’s political landscape remains uncertain, but addressing joblessness should be a primary focus as the seventh administration takes shape.

This urgency is underscored by a recent Stats SA report indicating a decline of 67,000 jobs. 

Trade, business services and mining are among the sectors that experienced significant declines in employment, collectively contributing to the jobs decrease across various industries in the first quarter of 2024.

Total employment fell by 67,000 jobs, from 10,731,000 in December 2023 to 10,664,000 in March 2024. This decline represents a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 0.6%.

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Stats SA reports the decreases were recorded in the following industries: trade lost 57,000, community services 18,000, business services 4,000 and mining 3,000.    

“Employment in the formal nonagricultural sectors of the economy, contracted by more than 60,000 jobs,” said FNB Senior economist Koketso Mano.

Many of the jobs shed were in trade and it was more than just post-festive layoffs of part-time workers, Mano said.  

During this period, electricity and transport showed no change. However, there were increases in manufacturing, transport and construction.

Full-time employment decreased by 16,000 between March 2023 and March 2024 while part-time employment fell by 38,000 quarter on quarter, from 1,218,000 in December 2023 to 1,180,000 in March 2024.

This was due to decreases in the trade, business services, manufacturing and community services sectors.  The electricity and construction industries showed no changes while the transport industry reported an increase of 2,000 jobs.

On the wages front, there was a notable decrease in basic salary or wages paid to employees, amounting to R6.7bn, or a decrease of 0.8%. This figure dropped from R855.6bn in December 2023 to R848.9bn in March 2024.

Stats SA attributes these decreases primarily to the trade, manufacturing, construction, mining and business services industries. 

Certain industries reported increases in wages during the same period. The transport, electricity and community services sectors experienced rises in the amount paid as basic salary and wages to employees.

“Bonuses paid to employees decreased by R27.6bn, or 25%, from R109bn in December 2023 to R81.4bn in March 2023. This was due to decreases in the community services, trade, manufacturing, construction, transport and electricity industries.”

Business services reported an increase of R9.9bn.

Year-on-year bonus payments increased R0.4bn, or 0.5%, between March 2023 and March 2024.

Citing the employment trends of 2009, Mano said that the following insights could be gained from formal employment trends since 2009.

Despite the lingering impacts of the global financial crisis, lockdowns, and geopolitical tensions, which affected most of the economy, some sectors have still managed to add many jobs.

The construction, trade, and business services sectors have added the most jobs. 

“Additionally, the community services and transport sectors have also made notable contributions to employment growth. Trailing not far behind were the community services and transport sectors,” Mano said. 

She further said that the job losses in the construction sector were a cause for concern as the sector has been battling with security and demand issues, which include the state’s poor follow-through on infrastructure spending.

“This highlights that the failure to address mounting stresses that have weighed on SA’s business climate could force a reversal in some of these gains. A key example are the sectors most affected by load-shedding, which are utilities, manufacturing, and mining,” said Mano.

majavun@businesslive.co.za