SA lost over 82‚000 jobs in two months

12 Jul 2012

The South African economy has lost 82‚520 jobs in just two months‚ the latest Adcorp employment index released on Tuesday shows. Almost 31‚000 of the 82‚520 jobs were lost in June.

The index‚ which is regarded as the most representative monthly barometer of employment trends in SA‚ showed that employment in the country fell sharply at an annualised rate of 2.0% in June from a decline of 3.1% in May.

Most sectors‚ with the exclusion of wholesale and retail trade‚ and all occupations‚ with the exception of managers and professionals‚ all reported declines.

Adcorp's labour economist Loane Sharp warned in an interview with I-Net Bridge/Business Live that job losses could continue unabated in the months ahead given the gloomy international environment and the impact of the global economic slowdown on SA's own economy.

The sharpest declines were recorded in agriculture (12.7%); transport (8.6%); mining (8.1%); plant and equipment (4.7%); and construction (-4.7%).

While formal sector jobs are struggling‚ more people were now looking at self-employment‚ as suggested by the 12th consecutive monthly improvement in the Adcorp informal sector employment index‚ which rose 0.2% in June.

"The informal sector is an alternative to the formal sector and weakness in formal employment has risen‚" Sharp told Business Live.

"The kinds of informal sector jobs that people are taking up are mainly hawking‚ child minding‚ auto repairs‚ transport‚ beauty‚ personal care‚ and logistics‚" he added.

Adcorp also embarked on an analysis of the affirmative action premium‚ which is the wage premium of affirmative action candidates over their non-affirmative action counterparts.

In order to determine an affirmative action premium‚ Sharp said it was necessary to hold constant the level of skills‚ qualifications‚ experience‚ on-the-job performance and other pertinent information‚ to accurately reflect the purely race-linked pay discrepancies between the candidates.

The analysis revealed that the premium for blacks was 23.1% overall‚ while that for black females was 36.4% compared to their white counterparts.

Adcorp obtained the information for the analysis from 1‚604 permanent placements it made for June 2011 to May 2012.

"The figures also showed that Asians and coloureds earn 2.7% less than whites respectively‚ whereas blacks earn 23.1% more than whites for equivalent levels of skills‚ qualifications‚ experience and on-the-job performance‚" Sharp said.

The company noted‚ however‚ that because the data was not consistently available over time‚ it was impossible to say whether the affirmative action wage premium had been rising or falling over time.

Source: I-Net Bridge

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