Johannesburg – Employment shrank by 48 000 jobs during the first quarter of the year.
According to data released by Statistics South Africa on Tuesday, employment declined over the past year by 0.6% or 58 000 jobs.
The decline was driven by decreases in trade (1.5% or 32 000 jobs), business services (1% or 23 000 jobs), community services (0.3% or 8000 jobs), manufacturing (0.3% or 4000 jobs) and transport (0.2% or 1000 jobs).
Employment in the electricity industry remained unchanged, according to Stats SA.
Jobs increased in the construction industry (2% or 12 000) and mining (1.8% or 8000 jobs).
Gross earnings paid to employees decreased from R607.3bn in December 2016 to R587.9bn in March 2017. The drop was attributed to the decrease in manufacturing, trade, community services, construction, transport and electricity industries. Increases were reported in the business services and mining industries.
For the year, gross earnings rose by R33.4bn.
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