The total employment in the formal non-agricultural sector rose by 42,000 (0.4%) in Q2 2024, bringing the level of employment to 10.7 million, according to the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES, Q2 2024) survey released by Statistics South Africa.
However, from June 2023 to June 2024, 144,000 jobs were lost. The total number of employees grew by 0.4% (42,000), with employment increasing from 10.67 million in March 2024 to 10.72 million by June 2024.
The community services industry recorded the largest job increase, adding 92,000 positions.
While the community services industry reported a huge increase in jobs, several industries experienced a decline in employment.
The manufacturing sector lost 12,000 jobs, followed by the business services sector with a reduction of 14,000 jobs.
The mining and transport industries both lost 7,000 jobs while the trade sector saw a decrease of 5,000 jobs and the construction sector lost 1,000 jobs.
Full-time employment declined by 39,000 jobs, dropping from 9,488,000 in Q1 2024 to 9,449,000 in Q2 2024.
In terms of full-time employment there was also a decline in jobs for several industries as the manufacturing industry lost 17,000 jobs, followed by the mining and transport industries, which each lost 7,000 jobs.
The trade and business services industries both decreased by 5,000 jobs while the electricity industry reported no change for Q2 2024.
The construction industry reported an increase of 4,000 jobs.
Year-on-year, full-time jobs dropped by 40,000 from June 2023 to June 2024.
Part-time employment experienced growth of 81,000 which was mainly driven by the community services industry.
The community services industry added 92 000 jobs while the manufacturing industry added 1,000 jobs.
However, the business services and construction industries lost 9,000 and 5,000 part-time jobs, respectively.
The electricity, trade, and transport industries reported no changes for the quarter.
Year-on-year part-time employment declined by 104,000 jobs.
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