Key findings: P0277 - Quarterly Employment Statistics, March 2009

Employment in the formal non-agricultural business sector decreased between the quarters ended December 2008 and March 2009.

The March 2009 Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey showed that the number of people employed in the formal non-agricultural business sector of the South African economy decreased by about 179 000 persons (or -2,1%) from December 2008 (an estimated 8 512 000 employees) to March 2009 (an estimated 8 333 000 employees).

Gross earnings paid to employees in the formal non-agricultural business sector decreased between the quarters ended December 2008 and March 2009.

The gross earnings paid to employees during the quarter ended March 2009 (January 2009 to March 2009) amounted to R258 862 million. This reflects a quarterly decrease of R15 095 million (or -5,5%) compared with the quarter ended December 2008 (October 2008 to December 2008).

Employment in the formal non-agricultural business sector decreased between the quarters ended March 2008 and March 2009.

The March 2009 Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey shows that an estimated 8 333 000 people were employed in the formal non-agricultural business sector of the South African economy. This reflected an annual decrease of about 84 000 employees (or -1,0%) compared with March 2008 (an estimated 8 417 000 employees).

Gross earnings paid to employees in the formal non-agricultural business sector increased between the quarters ended March 2008 and March 2009.

The gross earnings paid to employees during the quarter ended March 2009 (January 2009 to March 2009) amounted to R258 862 million. This reflects an annual increase of R23 513 million (or +10,0%) compared with the quarter ended March 2008 (January 2008 to March 2008).

Statement issued by Statistics South Africa, June 23 2009. The full report can be found in PDF here.

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