More people employed, salaries higher

The number of people employed in the formal non-agricultural sector of the South African economy increased by about 42‚000‚ or 0.5%‚ in the second quarter‚ according to the June Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey released by Statistics SA on Tuesday.

This took the number of employed people in the formal non-agricultural sector to an estimated 8.425 million in the second quarter‚ from an estimated 8.383 million in the first quarter.

The survey showed that gross earnings paid to employees during the quarter ended June amounted to R352.5bn‚ reflecting a quarterly increase of R3.5bn or 1.0% compared with the previous quarter.

The estimated 8.425 million people employed reflected an annual increase of about 125‚000 employees or 1.5% compared with June 2011's estimated 8.300 million employees.

Gross earnings paid to employees during the quarter ended June reflected an annual increase of R28.8bn or 8.9% compared with the quarter ended June 2011.

The average monthly earnings‚ including bonuses and overtime payments‚ paid to employees in the formal non-agricultural sector increased between February and May this year‚ Stats SA reported.

There was a quarterly increase of 3.8% in average monthly earnings of employees in the sector between February (an estimated R13‚143) and May (an estimated R13‚647).

The survey reflected an annual increase of 12.6% in average monthly earnings paid to employees between May 2011 (estimated at R12‚123)‚ and May 2012‚ when earnings reached an estimated R13‚647.