Economy

Manufacturing, services create more jobs

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9 February 2011

South Africa created 157 000 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2010, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Tuesday.

According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, employment increased by 1.2%, which led to a total of 13.1-million people being employed in the fourth quarter.

Between the third and fourth quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate dropped by 1.3 percentage points to 24%. In the three months to September 2010, the unemployment rate stood at 25.3%.

"Even with the drop in the levels of the unemployed, the total number of unemployed persons remained high at 4.1-million persons," said Stats SA, adding that 68% of those who were unemployed were in long-term unemployment, meaning that they had been unemployed for a year or more.

Job losses in agriculture

According to the survey, the formal sector gained 120 000 jobs, while the informal sector gained 53 000 jobs between quarters three and four. The agriculture sector lost 13 000 jobs, while private households remained virtually unchanged.

Black South Africans had the highest unemployment rate, at 28.1%, followed by coloured people at 21.3%. Indian and white people had the lowest unemployment rate at 7.9% and 5.5% respectively. For young people as well as women, unemployment remained higher than the national average.

The community and social services and manufacturing industries contributed the most to the gains in employment, with increases of 5.5% and 4.1% respectively.

The year-on-year estimates show that, between 2009 and 2010, employment contracted by 1.2% or 118 000 jobs, according to the survey.

Source: BuaNews



	Volkswagen South Africa's plant in Uitenhage, Eastern Cape is the largest vehicle factory in Africa (Photo: Volkswagen South Africa / MediaClubSouthAfrica.com)