Employment in South Africa has declined slightly over the last year, although earnings increased ahead of inflation. These are among the figures in Statistics SA’s Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey of enterprises in the formal non-agricultural business sector of the South African economy.
During quarter ended March 2015, the number of employees in the formal non-agricultural sector of the South African economy decreased from an estimated 8 986 000 employees in December 2014 to an estimated 8 942 000 employees in March 2015.
This equates to a quarterly decrease of 44 000 employees (-0,5%) between December 2014 and March 2015 and an annual decrease of 43 000 employees (-0,5%) between March 2014 and March 2015.
Gross earnings decreased between the quarters ended December 2014 and March 2015, amounting to R475-billion. This reflected a quarterly decrease of R22-billion (-4,4%) compared with the quarter ended December 2014 but an annual increase of R25-billion (+5,6%) compared with the quarter ended March 2014.
Average monthly earnings, including bonuses and overtime payments, paid to employees in the formal non-agricultural sector increased by 0,2% between November 2014 and February 2015.
An estimated monthly average of R16 461 was paid to employees in the formal non-agricultural sector during February 2015. This reflected a quarterly increase of 0,2% between November 2014 and February 2015 and an annual increase of 7,8% between February 2014 and February 2015.