Growth in employment in South Africa accelerated noticeably over the past eight quarters after a prolonged period of marginal employment gains, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said on Thursday in its quarterly economic bulletin.
“Total employment in the formal non-agricultural; sector rose by 76 400 workers of 2007 compared with the fourth quarter of 2006, implying a seasonally adjusted and annualised rate of increase of 3,8%,” the SARB said.
The central bank said that improved employment prospects since early 2005 have been evident in both the public and private sector.
Over the year to the first quarter of 2007, public-sector employment advanced by a healthy 3,9%, while private sector employment increased by 2,6%.
“Despite the faster pace of job creation in the public sector, the bulk of new jobs were in the private sector as it comprises a larger share of total formal non-agricultural employment,” the SARB noted.
Employment gains — according to the June 2007 Quarterly Employment
Statistics Survey — are fairly widespread through the economy with persistent strong fixed investment encouraging more jobs creation in the construction sector.
The SARB said that jobs growth in the construction sector stood close to levels last seen in the early 1980s despite indications of shortages of skilled labour and building materials. ‒ I-Net Bridge