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Johanneburg - Jobs in the retail sector received a boost from festive spending, but overall employment was down in December, according to the monthly Adcorp Employment Index released on Monday.
"The number of permanent workers decreased by 0.21%," said Richard Pike, CEO of Adcorp.
Temporary work increased by 0.07% and agency work was up 3.84%.
Overall, the index declined by an annualised 0.13%.
Festive season consumer spending had a positive impact on employment in the retail and wholesale sectors and consequently also in transport, storage and communications.
"The year-end retail season was certainly more buoyant than many analysts predicted as our index for December last year shows employment increases in the retail and wholesale sectors of 9.58% and in the transport, storage and communication sectors of 4.6%," said Pike.
Jobs for high-skilled workers, particularly managers and professionals, increased by 3.64%.
Jobs also increased significantly for sales and service workers, up by 8.7%.
"Unemployment for the month was focused among low-skilled and manufacturing workers, where employment declined by 5.75%."
The increase in total remuneration for 2010 was 16.8%. This far exceeded the 3.5% increase in the cost of living, and the 0.4% decrease in the growth of labour productivity.
There were significant job losses in the construction sector and moderate losses in the financial services sector, "both suggesting that South Africa's economic recovery remains largely irregular".
"Unemployment is a consequence of high wage demands as employers retain those whose productivity justifies their wage. Thus, retrenchments are concentrated among lower-skilled workers, especially the youth who simply do not have adequate experience or skills," said Pike.
"The risks to South Africa's employment outlook remain acute," he said.
"Substitution of capital for labour has risen steadily between 1970 and 2010, and the ease of replacing workers with machines is currently at the highest level in history," he said.
