S.A. faces jobs recession — report

Adcorp Group, a leading human capital management in South Africa says the country faces a real prospect of a jobs recession. The group, which defines jobs recession as six consecutive months of employment declines, said Pretoria is experiencing job losses in the formal sector.In a newly released report, Adcorp said in South Africa employment shrank in August, falling at an annualized rate of 0.23 percent.“This follows sharp declines of 3.1 percent in May and 2.0 percent in June and stalled employment in July,” Group Marketing Manager Mandy Jones said in the report.“South Africa faces a very real prospect of a jobs recession, being six consecutive months of declines in employment,” she added.“Most of the job losses during August were in the formal sector, which shed 14,382 jobs. In particular, permanent employment fell by 7,688 during the month whereas agency employment increased by 1, 083.”According to the report the services sectors which include trade, transport, finance and community services gained 14,000 jobs, whereas the primary and secondary sectors which includes mining, manufacturing and construction shed 16,000 jobs.Adcorp labour economist Loane Sharp views the August numbers in the context of the most recent World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report (GCR), which ranked South Africa’s labour law environment 143rd out of 144 countries versus a previous ranking of 133rd.The GCR is one of the world’s most important rankings of international competitiveness. It reflects the views of local and international business leaders, and it is a reliable long-term predictor of inward foreign direct investment and it contains useful information about the constraints to economic growth and employment, particularly at sector level.Xinhua

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S.A. faces jobs recession — report