THE formal sector shed 15000 jobs in the first quarter‚ to 9.273-million employees‚ Statistics SA’s Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey showed on Monday.

The drop is in line with the economic contraction over that period.

Employment fell in all industries except for community services‚ construction‚ and electricity.

The largest job losses were recorded in the trade sector‚ followed by transport‚ mining‚ manufacturing‚ and business services.

Mining lost jobs for the sixth consecutive quarter. Mining companies are under pressure from rising operating costs and still-low commodity prices.

“The quarterly decline in the number of people employed in the trade industry was largely driven by declines in employee numbers in retail trade‚ and hotels and restaurants‚ which recorded declines of 27000 and 7000 respectively‚” Stats SA said.

The trade sector traditionally sheds jobs in the first quarter of the year‚ as jobs that were created temporarily to accommodate a busy festive season are cut.

Gross earnings in the formal sector fell by R22bn to R523bn in the first quarter of 2016‚ the QES showed.

An earlier jobs report‚ the Quarterly Labour Force Survey‚ which includes agricultural and household sector jobs‚ showed the economy shed 355000 jobs in the first quarter of 2016.