SA adds more jobs in second quarter of 2022
Despite load shedding and floods
Job gains were seen in community and social services, trade, finance and construction.
The official unemployment rate IN South Africa declined further to 33.9% in the second quarter of 2022, from 34.5% in the first, Statistics SA reported on Tuesday. Unemployment hit a record high of 35.3% in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Economists were expecting a rise in unemployment due to intensifying load shedding and the economic impact of devastating flooding in KwaZulu-Natal. A Bloomberg survey of five economists showed a median forecast of 35%.
Instead, the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) shows that 648 000 jobs were created between the first and second quarter of 2022.
While there were job losses in manufacturing (-73 000) and transport (-54 000), job gains were seen in community and social services ( 276 000), trade ( 169 000), finance ( 128 000) and construction ( 104 000).
The total number of persons employed was 15.6 million in the second quarter of 2022, while the number of unemployed persons reached 8 million.
For the third quarter in a row, the expanded unemployment rate - which includes discouraged work seekers who have given up looking for work – declined. It fell from 45.5% to 44.1%.
The QLFS has faced some scrutiny in recent months, amid growing concern about the reliability of South Africa’s employment data.
Statistics SA is meant to collect data on the employment status of 33 000 households – which is extrapolated to determine the jobless rates for around 40 million adults in the country. However, last year it contacted fewer than 14 300 households. The interviews were done telephonically - not face-to-face as before the pandemic.
At the start of this year, however, in-person interviews resumed.
Fin24 previously reported that the head of the Statistics Council, the advisory board to Statistics SA, raised the alarm about the quality of the unemployment data.
Women
Almost half of South African working-age women are not part of the country’s labour force.
Of the 20.3 million South African women between 15 years and 64 years, 47% gave up looking for employment, or were classified as not being economically active for other reasons, according to second-quarter data published by the statistics office on Tuesday. That compares with 35.6% of working-age men.
The official unemployment rate for women, which records individuals available to work and searching for a job, has been above the national average since at least 2008, the data show.
The productive potential of South African women in the labour market remains unused, the statistics office said. In addition, women who do find work are usually in vulnerable environments, often characterized by inadequate income, low productivity and difficult conditions, according to the agency. That’s despite legislation to boost equity in various industries and at all levels.
While the country of 60.6 million people has made progress with appointing women as company heads and cabinet ministers, industries such as mining are still male-dominated and girls in poor rural areas often don’t complete high school, limiting their employment prospects.
-Fin24
Economists were expecting a rise in unemployment due to intensifying load shedding and the economic impact of devastating flooding in KwaZulu-Natal. A Bloomberg survey of five economists showed a median forecast of 35%.
Instead, the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) shows that 648 000 jobs were created between the first and second quarter of 2022.
While there were job losses in manufacturing (-73 000) and transport (-54 000), job gains were seen in community and social services ( 276 000), trade ( 169 000), finance ( 128 000) and construction ( 104 000).
The total number of persons employed was 15.6 million in the second quarter of 2022, while the number of unemployed persons reached 8 million.
For the third quarter in a row, the expanded unemployment rate - which includes discouraged work seekers who have given up looking for work – declined. It fell from 45.5% to 44.1%.
The QLFS has faced some scrutiny in recent months, amid growing concern about the reliability of South Africa’s employment data.
Statistics SA is meant to collect data on the employment status of 33 000 households – which is extrapolated to determine the jobless rates for around 40 million adults in the country. However, last year it contacted fewer than 14 300 households. The interviews were done telephonically - not face-to-face as before the pandemic.
At the start of this year, however, in-person interviews resumed.
Fin24 previously reported that the head of the Statistics Council, the advisory board to Statistics SA, raised the alarm about the quality of the unemployment data.
Women
Almost half of South African working-age women are not part of the country’s labour force.
Of the 20.3 million South African women between 15 years and 64 years, 47% gave up looking for employment, or were classified as not being economically active for other reasons, according to second-quarter data published by the statistics office on Tuesday. That compares with 35.6% of working-age men.
The official unemployment rate for women, which records individuals available to work and searching for a job, has been above the national average since at least 2008, the data show.
The productive potential of South African women in the labour market remains unused, the statistics office said. In addition, women who do find work are usually in vulnerable environments, often characterized by inadequate income, low productivity and difficult conditions, according to the agency. That’s despite legislation to boost equity in various industries and at all levels.
While the country of 60.6 million people has made progress with appointing women as company heads and cabinet ministers, industries such as mining are still male-dominated and girls in poor rural areas often don’t complete high school, limiting their employment prospects.
-Fin24
Kommentar
Allgemeine Zeitung
Zu diesem Artikel wurden keine Kommentare hinterlassen