According to the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES, Q1:2022) survey released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), total employment in the formal non-agricultural sector increased by 42 000 in the first quarter of 2022, bringing the level of total employment to approximately 10,1 million. The survey showed that jobs increased by 200 000 between March 2021 and   read more »

Jobs in the formal non-agricultural sector increased by 52 000 in the third quarter of 2021, bringing the total number of persons employed in the formal non-agricultural sector in South Africa to approximately 9,62 million. According to the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES, Q3:2021) survey released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), year-on-year, formal sector jobs increased   read more »

Net profit before tax in the formal business sector tumbled by 33,4% in the financial year 2020 compared with 2019, with business services and manufacturing the hardest hit. The data, from Stats SA’s latest Annual financial statistics (AFS) survey1 , which mostly covers the period before the lockdown, show that total net profit before tax   read more »

The tourism sector: economic importance, employment and expenditure. These are the three themes covered by a recent report examining the pre-pandemic (2019) status of the South African tourism sector. These data will provide an important benchmark for when comparable COVID-19-era data (2020) become available. The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) for South Africa report, released annually,   read more »

According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the 3rd quarter of 2021, the number of employed persons declined by 660 000 to 14,3 million compared to the 2nd quarter of 2021. The decline in employment is coupled with a decline in the number of unemployed persons to 7,6 million from 7,8 million, resulting in   read more »

Jobs in the formal non-agricultural sector decreased by 86 000 in the second quarter of 2021, bringing the total number of persons employed in the formal non-agricultural sector in South Africa to approximately 9,57 million. According to the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES, Q2:2021) survey released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), formal sector jobs increased by   read more »

Jobs in the formal non-agricultural sector decreased by 9 000 in the first quarter of 2021, bringing the total number of persons employed in the formal non-agricultural sector in South Africa to approximately 9,64 million. Year-on-year figures from the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES, Q1:2021) survey, released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), show that formal   read more »

Economic growth is often quite lumpy. A national measure of gross domestic product (GDP) is useful to gauge how a country is doing as a whole. Still, it misses the fact that economic activity varies across towns, cities and regions. Stats SA’s most recent quarterly GDP release provides national data for the entire year of   read more »

South Africa’s economy rebounded in the third quarter of 2020 (July–September), coinciding with the easing of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. All industries recorded an increase in economic activity compared with the second quarter, with manufacturing, trade and mining leading the charge. Businesses were supported by an increase in both exports and household spending. Gross domestic product   read more »

The punch in the gut was severe. Perhaps the second quarter of 2020 will become known as the pandemic quarter. South Africa’s economy suffered a significant contraction during April, May and June, when the country operated under widespread lockdown restrictions in response to COVID-19. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by just over 16% between the   read more »