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Johannesburg - After registering a 1.2% decline in September, employment in South Africa increased by an annualised 2.83% in October, the latest Adcorp Employment Index released on Wednesday revealed.
The Index is regarded as the most representative barometer of employment trends in South Africa.
Jobless growth remains a key stumbling block in South Africa.
Adcorp said the increase in employment during October primarily reflects a seasonal ramp-up in staffing levels for the year-end Christmas holiday season.
The wholesale and retail trade sectors increased employment at an annual rate of 5.96% and the transport and services, increased employment by 6.92%.
Adcorp said that although these increases are modest, they are an indication that retailers and wholesalers expect the year-end shopping season to be better than in 2009, when sharp declines in employment were observed.
Mining employment increased by 7.72%, reflecting buoyant commodity markets as well as a gradual but increasingly firm turnaround in the South African economy, Adcorp said.
The construction sector, which has been among the highest job-shedding sectors following the completion of several Soccer World Cup infrastructures such as stadiums, increased employment by 4.37%.
On the negative side, only manufacturing and financial services reported declines in employment of -6.65% and -2.22% respectively.
According to Adcorp, labour productivity, properly measured, represents a major structural challenge for the South African employment outlook.
"On average since 1970, each extra unit of labour applied in the production process involves a cumulative loss of productivity over an 18-month period of 49 cents in every Rand," Adcorp noted.
It added that by contrast, each additional unit of capital involves a cumulative gain the productivity of R1.71 in every rand.
Adcorp expects mechanisation, automation and technology adoption to increase sharply over the coming decade but at the expense of employment.
Employment in percentage terms increased the most for professionals (+5.57%), which is about 649 jobs, while the biggest decline was experienced by skilled agricultural and fishery workers (-22.64%).
Employment fell in the Northern Cape, Free State, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo and increased in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces.
The Index is regarded as the most representative barometer of employment trends in South Africa.
Jobless growth remains a key stumbling block in South Africa.
Adcorp said the increase in employment during October primarily reflects a seasonal ramp-up in staffing levels for the year-end Christmas holiday season.
The wholesale and retail trade sectors increased employment at an annual rate of 5.96% and the transport and services, increased employment by 6.92%.
Adcorp said that although these increases are modest, they are an indication that retailers and wholesalers expect the year-end shopping season to be better than in 2009, when sharp declines in employment were observed.
Mining employment increased by 7.72%, reflecting buoyant commodity markets as well as a gradual but increasingly firm turnaround in the South African economy, Adcorp said.
The construction sector, which has been among the highest job-shedding sectors following the completion of several Soccer World Cup infrastructures such as stadiums, increased employment by 4.37%.
On the negative side, only manufacturing and financial services reported declines in employment of -6.65% and -2.22% respectively.
According to Adcorp, labour productivity, properly measured, represents a major structural challenge for the South African employment outlook.
"On average since 1970, each extra unit of labour applied in the production process involves a cumulative loss of productivity over an 18-month period of 49 cents in every Rand," Adcorp noted.
It added that by contrast, each additional unit of capital involves a cumulative gain the productivity of R1.71 in every rand.
Adcorp expects mechanisation, automation and technology adoption to increase sharply over the coming decade but at the expense of employment.
Employment in percentage terms increased the most for professionals (+5.57%), which is about 649 jobs, while the biggest decline was experienced by skilled agricultural and fishery workers (-22.64%).
Employment fell in the Northern Cape, Free State, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo and increased in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces.
