Government welcomes rise in employment

The Presidency on Friday said it welcomed Stats SA's latest report showing there was an increase in employment between June and September. 

While SA continues to battle high unemployment, the third “Quarterly Employment Statistics” report shows 256,000 new jobs were created between September 2022 and September 2023. 

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said: “The continuous increase in employment is a demonstration that measures put in place by government, the partnership with business and labour to reduce unemployment and create opportunities for more jobs are steadily and firmly gaining traction despite prevailing domestic and global challenges facing the economy.

“Government remains resolute in resolving the domestic constrains to the economy as indicated by the recently cabinet-approved Freight and Logistics Roadmap and the Integrated Resource Plan 2023.

“These interventions will also help facilitate economic growth opportunities to reverse the contraction in GDP, which was 0.2% in the third quarter.”

The year-on-year increase in employment is now at 2.6%, according to Stats SA. The increase in gross earnings paid to employees also rose by R16.7bn from R833.6bn in June to R850.2bn in September.

This equates to a 2% rise and shows that at some levels there are measures in place to ensure earnings keep up with the increasing cost of living, Ntshavheni said. 

The government noted these increases have been driven by sectors that are critical to South Africa’s economic growth: trade, mining, transport, electricity industries and community services. 

“As the country ends the year on this good news of a resilient economy which is steadily creating employment, government undertakes to double its efforts in the new year to bolster an employment-creating economy,” said Ntshavheni. 

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