INLSA

30/08/2011 Altech's manufacturing factory in Durban Mpumalanga. (0594) Photo: Leon Nicholas

Ethel Hazelhurst

Though employment growth has been subdued, the addition of 6 000 jobs in the second quarter “has extended the most recent uninterrupted period of employment growth to five quarters”, according to the Reserve Bank quarterly bulletin released yesterday.

However the 377 000 jobs lost in the formal sector, between the third quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of last year, have not been regained. “Discouragingly the economy only regained an estimated 201 000 jobs in the period to the second quarter of this year – of which 53 percent were created in the public sector.”

The bulletin noted: “Of significance is the fact that (the second-quarter) increase resulted from employment gains in the private sector.”

The public sector shed jobs, as temporary workers employed for the municipal elections were phased out. “Public sector employment numbers decreased at an annualised rate of 4 percent in the second quarter, while private sector employment increased at an annualised rate of 1.7 percent.”

Gains in the private sector were “fairly broad based”, according to the bulletin. Between the second quarter of last year and the second quarter of this year, strongest growth in jobs was in the non-gold mining sector, up 6.9 percent; and in electricity supply, up by 4.6 percent. Worst performers were the gold mining sector, where the number of jobs fell by 4.7 percent over the four quarters; construction by 3.5 percent; and manufacturing by 1.6 percent.

The fortunes of the construction sector changed during the period with 7 900 jobs created in the first quarter and 6 900 in the second.

However, manufacturing has continued to lose jobs this year – 3 600 in the first quarter and 6 300 in the second.

Meanwhile, Sapa reported that total employment grew at its fastest rate in eight months in November, as measured by the Adcorp employment index.

According to the index, released yesterday, employment grew at an annual rate of 3.41 percent in November with all employment categories reporting growth.

The fastest growth was registered by the informal sector at 4 percent, while temporary work grew by 3.8 percent and permanent jobs by 2.8 percent.

Agency work lagged at 2 percent, possibly reflecting “legislative and regulatory uncertainties” around the future of labour broking.

Fast job growth was recorded in the distribution and logistics sector, at 18.1 percent; the retail sector, at 8.7 percent; and financial services, at 8.2 percent.

By contrast, sharp drops in jobs were seen in mining, minus 15.7 percent, and manufacturing, minus 5.4 percent.

Demand for skilled workers rose sharply, notably managers and professionals. This reflected the economy’s ongoing re-orientation toward high value-added services sectors.

Demand also increased for clerks, by 9.1 percent, and service workers, by 4.7 percent.