Salaries decrease in South Africa: No relief in sight for workers
Salaries decrease in South Africa: No relief in sight for workers
The average formal, non-agricultural salary decreased from R26,822 in Q4 2023 to R26,791 in Q1 2024, according to StatsSA Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES).
Data from the QES showed that the average monthly earnings (AME) including bonuses and overtime payments decreased by 0.1% from November 2023 to February 2024.
The QES showed that year-on-year, the average salary increased by 4.6%.
Picture: StatsSA
According to StatsSA, the average salary for industries like mining, manufacturing and business services declined for Q1 2024.
StatsSA reported that despite an overall decrease in average salaries, certain industries experienced increases in average earnings during the same period.
Year-on-year, the transport industry reported the largest annual increase of 9.5% whilst community services industry showed the lowest increase of only 2.3%.
Drop in employment
StatsSA data indicated that total employment decreased by 0.6% quarter-on-quarter, resulting in a loss of 67,000 jobs.
Jobs dropped from 10,731,000 in December 2023 to 10,664,000 in March 2024. These are the industries that lost jobs:
– trade (57,000 or 2.4%)
– community services (18,000 or 0.6%)
– business services (4,000 or 0.2%)
– and mining (3,000 or 0.6%).
The electricity industry showed no change.
However, there were increases in the following industries: manufacturing (12,000 or 0.9%), transport (2,000 or 0.4%) and construction (1,000 or 0.2%).
Year-on-year, there was a loss of 74,000 jobs, reflecting a 0.7% decrease in employment between March 2023 and March 2024.
From Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, full-time employment decreased by 29,000 jobs, which equates to a 0.3% decline.
Additionally, full-time employment decreased by 0.2% year-on-year between March 2023 and March 2024.
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