The trade, business services, transport and electricity industries did the heavy lifting in the last quarter of 2024 creating 12,000 jobs, which pushed employment to more than 10-million and resulted in gross wages of more than R1-trillion paid to employees.
According to the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey for the final quarter of 2024 released by Stats SA in Pretoria on Tuesday, employment in the non-agricultural sector rose by 12,000 jobs, reaching 10.64-million by December 2024. This translates to an increase of 0.1% quarter on quarter, from 10,628,000 in September 2024 to 10,640,000 in December 2024.
This was largely due to an increase in trade (42,000 or 1.8%), business services (22,000 or 0.9%), transport (2,000 or 0.4%) and electricity (1,000 or 1.6%).
Decreases in employment were recorded in community services (-26,000 or -0.9%), manufacturing (-13,000 or -1.0%), construction (-13,000 or -2.1%) and mining (-3,000 or -0.6%).
According to the QES survey gross earnings paid to employees increased by R59.1bn quarter on quarter, from R969.bn in September 2024 to R1.03-trillion in December 2024.
“This growth was primarily driven by higher earnings in key industries, with the trade sector leading the way at R13.6bn in additional earnings. The manufacturing and community services industries followed closely, adding R13bn and R12.4bn respectively,” the survey stated.
“Other notable gains came from the business services (R7.6bn), construction (R6.4 bn), transport (R4.6bn), and electricity (R2.5bn) sectors. However, the mining industry stood as the only sector to report a decline, with gross earnings dropping by R910m,” it added.
Full-time employment decreased by 26,000 or 0.3% year on year between December 2023 and December 2024 while part-time employment decreased by 65,000 or 5.3% during the same period.
The data comes as SA’s official unemployment rate declined further in the fourth quarter of 2024, falling by 0.2 of a percentage point from the preceding three months to 31.9%. The rate fell to 32.1% in the third quarter from 33.5% previously after 294,000 jobs were created.
The unemployment scourge in SA has prompted the government of national unity (GNU) to adopt the medium-term development plan, which sets out a clear and ambitious programme for the next five years.
“The actions contained in the plan will advance our three key strategic priorities. First, to drive inclusive growth and job creation. Second, to reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living, and third to build a capable, ethical and developmental state,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said during his state of the nation address in February.
The QES survey showed that year on year, gross earnings increased by R35.5bn or 3.6% between December 2023 and December 2024.
“Basic salary/wages paid to employees increased by R9.5bn or 1.1% quarter on quarter, from R880.2bn in September 2024 to R889.7bn in December 2024,” the survey said.
“Year on year, basic salary/wages increased by R34.1bn or 4.0% between December 2023 and December 2024. Bonus paid to employees increased by R51.8bn or 85.4% quarter on quarter, from R60.7bn in September 2024 to R112.5 bn in December 2024.”
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