/ 10 January 2012

Index reveals significant job growth in December

According to the Adcorp Employment Index, over 100 000 new jobs were created in December 2011 with temporary work growing the fastest.

Over 100 000 new jobs were created in December 2011 with temporary work growing the fastest, according to the Adcorp Employment Index released on Tuesday.

“A total of 103 327 new jobs were created in December 2011 — the fastest rate of growth in nine months,” Adcorp said in a statement.

All employment categories reported growth in December, with the fastest being temporary work (15%) and permanent jobs (6%), said Adcorp labour market analyst Loane Sharp.

He said labour agency work lagged behind with a growth rate of 5%, “possibly reflecting regulative and regulatory uncertainties regarding labour-broking”.

However, the number of jobs in South Africa was still 850 000 below the peak reached before the 2009 recession.

The country had lost 1.56-million permanent jobs and created 0.71 million temporary jobs since then, Sharp said.

Significant growth
In December, the distribution and logistics sector grew significantly at 16%, as did the financial services (9%) and retail (8%) sectors.

The index found that no sectors had reported a decline in employment.

Job growth was fastest in the low-skilled and semi-skilled job categories.

Services workers grew at a rate of 11%, clerks at 10% and elementary occupations at 8%.

“This is the first time since the 2009 recession that employment growth has been observed in the entry level occupations,” said Sharp. — Sapa