Johannesburg - Employment in South Africa's formal, non-farm
sector nudged up 0.1% in the third quarter of 2012, with a decrease in mining jobs
offset by additions to the retail and financial sectors, a survey showed on
Tuesday.
South Africa faces a chronic unemployment problem, with
about a quarter of the labour force without jobs for the past 10 years.
Statistics South Africa said 10 000 people were added to
formal industries in the third quarter of this year, bringing the total number
of workers to 8.44 million. On a year-on-year basis the increase in employment
amounted to 1% in the third quarter.
Manufacturing, which contributes 15% to GDP, added no jobs
in the quarter while the mining and quarrying industry, which was hit by
violent labour strikes for three months from August, shed 15 000 jobs.
The mining sector dragged GDP growth down to 1.2% from 3.4%
in the second quarter and analysts estimate the weak growth and job losses will
be even more pronounced in the final three months of the year.
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