The September 2015 Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey showed that an estimated 8 951 000 persons were employed in the formal non-agricultural sector of the South African economy. This reflected a quarterly increase of 7 000 employees (+0,1%) between June 2015 and September 2015 and an annual increase of 4 000 employees (0,0%) between September   read more »

Stats SA’s latest Quarterly Financial Statistics report provides detailed financial statistics on the private sector, for the quarter ending September 2015. How did business turnover fare over this period? The following short article covers key turnover statistics from the report. Total turnover Total turnover in the private sector increased by 3,3% in the September 2015   read more »

In honour of cake day on 26 November, we are taking a fresh look at the latest price data of this popular dessert. Stats SA published a story on the price of cake in July 2015, we now look at how prices have changed since then. Interestingly, there hasn’t been any big changes. The average   read more »

South Africa’s economy grew by 0,7% in the third quarter of 2015, according to preliminary estimates of real gross domestic product (GDP) released by Stats SA. Unless otherwise stated, growth rates are quarter-on-quarter, seasonally adjusted and annualised. After experiencing a 1,3% contraction in the second quarter, the marginal GDP growth in the third quarter staved   read more »

Stats SA recently released results of its large sample survey covering the electricity, gas and water supply industry in South Africa, for the year 2013. The report provides information on the size, nature and structure of the industry. Also included in the report is information on employment, trading income, expenditure, profit or loss, inventories, sales   read more »

Stats SA recently released results of its large sample survey covering the post and telecommunications industry in South Africa, for the year 2013. The report provides detailed information on the size, nature and structure of the industry. Also included in the report is information on employment, trading income, expenditure, profit or loss, inventories, sales and   read more »

Manufacturing production increased by 5,6% year-on-year in July 2015, driven mostly by a 39,6% year-on-year production rise in the automotive industry and a 17,4% year-on-year rise in the metals and machinery industry. It would be tempting to rejoice in response to these pronounced increases, but the figures don’t tell the whole story. These increases do   read more »

South Africa’s economy contracted by 1,3% (seasonally adjusted and annualised) in the second quarter of 2015, according to preliminary estimates of real gross domestic product (GDP) released by Stats SA. The quarter-on-quarter decrease in overall economic activity was characterised by five of the ten main industry groups shrinking in size, while the other five experienced   read more »

Digging a little deeper into the latest consumer price data shows how you can make informed choices about your sweet tooth. If you love to have cake on a regular basis, it might be interesting to know that you are now paying almost 30% more for a cake than you did in June 2010. The   read more »

The March 2015 Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey showed that total formal non-agricultural employment decreased by 44 000 jobs from 8 986 000 in the fourth quarter of 2014 to 8 942 000 in the first quarter of 2015.This is a quarterly decrease of 0.5 %. The quarterly decrease was mainly due to decreases reported   read more »