JOHANNESBURG - The South African economy shed 208,000 jobs between the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. This is according to the recent Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa on Tuesday. The survey found that, in that period, 88,000 jobs had been lost in the formal sector, 96,000 in the informal sector, and 26,000 in agriculture.
The unemployment rate stood at 23,5%, up from 21,6% in the last quarter of 2008, and just under the rate at the beginning of last year.
The industries hardest hit by job losses were trade (143,000), manufacturing (62,000) and construction (65,000). Finance gained 89,000 jobs over the last quarter. The survey states that the highest number of job losses were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal (117,000) followed by Gauteng (49,000) and the Eastern Cape (47,000). The Western Cape saw a job gain of 34,000.
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Table: Key findings of latest Labour Force Survey |
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|
Jan-Mar 2008 |
Oct-Dec 2008 |
Jan-Mar 2009 |
Qrt to Qrt change |
Year on year change |
|
|
Thousand |
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|
Population 15-64 yrs |
30608 |
30894 |
30987 |
93 |
379 |
|
Labour force |
17814 |
17718 |
17820 |
102 |
6 |
|
Employed |
13623 |
13844 |
13636 |
-208 |
13 |
|
Formal sector (Non-agricultural) |
9342 |
9537 |
9449 |
-88 |
107 |
|
Informal sector (Non-agricultural) |
2319 |
2246 |
2150 |
-96 |
-169 |
|
Agriculture |
799 |
764 |
738 |
-26 |
-61 |
|
Private households |
1163 |
1298 |
1299 |
1 |
136 |
|
Unemployed |
4191 |
3873 |
4184 |
311 |
-7 |
|
Not economically active |
12794 |
13176 |
13166 |
-10 |
372 |
|
Discouraged work-seekers |
1177 |
1168 |
1215 |
47 |
38 |
|
Other (not economically active) |
11617 |
12008 |
11951 |
-57 |
334 |
|
Unemployment rate |
23.53% |
21.86% |
23.48% |
1.62% |
-0.05% |
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Source: Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Quarter 1 2009 |
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