SA's formal employment up slightly

The number of people employed in South Africa’s non-agricultural sectors increased by 0,2% in the third quarter compared with the second quarter, data showed on Tuesday.

Statistics South Africa said the number of employed people went up by 17 000, to 8,149-million people compared with the second quarter.

Compared to the same period last year, the number of the employed went up by 5 000.

South Africa has lost more than a million jobs since the beginning of last year when it experienced its first recession since 1992.

Government has said the country’s economy needed to grow by between 6% and 7% a year to make a meaningful dent on unemployment, double the 3% economic growth expected by the National Treasury for 2010.—Reuters