Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) has reported an increase in the total number of people employed in the country. It increased by 39,000 in the second quarter of this year, a rise of 0.4 per cent, as total employment rose from 10 million 39,000 in March to 10 million 78,000 at the end of June.

According to StatsSA, this was mainly due to growth in utilities (1.4 per cent), business services (0.5 per cent), mining (0.4 per cent) and electricity (1.7 per cent).

However, as noted in the source, there were declines in manufacturing (-0.8 per cent), transport (-0.7 per cent), trade (-0.1 per cent) and construction (-0.2 per cent).

On an annualised basis, total employment increased by 104,000 jobs, or 1 per cent, between June 2022 and June 2023.

The youth unemployment rate also fell by 1.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2023, as reported by Prensa Latina, a partner of TV BRICS.

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